Will Ospreay About To Break Historic Wrestling “Star Ratings” Record

Will Ospreay will soon be considered the absolute best pro wrestler in modern times…if you take Dave Meltzer’s opinion as fact, that is.

Ospreay has long been considered one of the best wrestlers in the world right now, if not the best. And the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer has been one of his biggest fans.

So much so that Will Ospreay has almost tied the record for most 5-star matches in history.

Wrestling is a highly subjective medium. Some agree with Meltzer’s star ratings and others do not. However, Meltzer’s influence on the modern wrestling landscape, particularly through his star ratings, can’t be ignored.

On November 5^th, Will Ospreay achieved his 24^th career 5-star match when he beat Tetsuya Naito at Battle Autumn. With that rating, Ospreay surpassed both Kazuchika Okada and Kenta Kobashi for total number of 5-star matches.

Only one wrestler has more 5-star matches in his career: Mitsuharu Misawa, who has 25.

In other words, Will Ospreay needs only one more 5-star match to tie Misawa’s record and two more to surpass it. And considering that Ospreay had eight in 2022 alone (including four over the course of eighteen days), he may break that record sooner rather than later.

Will Ospreay’s full list of highly-acclaimed 5-stars-or-higher matches is as follows:

1. Ospreay, Matt Sydal & Ricochet vs. Adam Cole & The Young Bucks – PWG BOLA 2016
2. Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2017 Final
3. Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll – NJPW Sakura Genesis 2018
4. Ospreay & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. The Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) – December 15^th, 2018
5. Ospreay vs. Bandido – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2019
6. Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi I – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2019 Final
7. Ospreay vs. Dragon Lee – NJPW Dominion 6.9 2019
8. Ospreay vs. Kota Ibushi – NJPW G1 Climax 2019
9. Ospreay vs. Okada IV – G1 Climax 2019
10. Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14, Night One
11. Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. XII – RevPro High Stakes 2020
12. Ospreay vs. Takagi II – G1 Climax 2020
13. Ospreay vs. Okada VI – Wrestle Kingdom 15, Night One
14. Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. XIII – New Japan Cup 2021
15. Ospreay vs. Takagi III – New Japan Cup 2021
16. Ospreay vs. Takagi IV – NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2021
17. Ospreay vs. Okada VII – Wrestle Kingdom 16, Night Two
18. Ospreay vs. Michael Oku – Rev Pro High Stakes 2022
19. Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr. XIV – New Japan Cup 2022
20. Ospreay vs. Takagi V – G1 Climax 2022
21. Ospreay vs. Okada VIII – G1 Climax 2022 Final
22. Ospreay vs. Ricky Knight, Jr. – RevPro 10^th Anniversary Show, Night Two
23. United Empire (Ospreay & Aussie Open) vs. Death Triangle (PAC, Fenix & Penta Oscuro) – AEW Dynamite August 24^th, 2022
24. Ospreay vs. Naito II – NJPW Battle Autumn ‘22