Shoulder injury to force Ospreay from Cup, Davis to take his place

Earlier today, news broke that due to a right shoulder injury, Will Ospreay would be absent from action in Okayama on March 15. Before the Okayama event started, Mark Davis staged an impromptu press conference to announce that Ospreay would withdraw from this year’s New Japan Cup tournament entirely, and had nominated him as an alternate, in the following statement:

‘New Japan Cup 2023. We set foot into this tournament, each member of the United Empire, and we made a pact, that this year it would be for the United Empire. Now the reason I’m standing here is to deliver some deeply unfortunate news, and that is that Will Ospreay has to forfeit his place in the New Japan Cup.

I’m deeply saddened to be the one to have to tell you, but I’m more motivated than ever to take his place in the tournament, and to take home that New Japan Cup for the United Empire. So on the 17th, Tokyo, Korakuen Hall, EVIL- it’s not Will Ospreay you’re going to be facing. It’s Dunkzilla Davis, and I’m taking this one home for the United Empire.’

–Mark, how did you feel when Will Ospreay nominated you as his replacement?

Davis: How did I feel? For me, it’s a lot of pressure on my shoulders. I’m not going to lie, I’m not going to be dishonest. My specialty in professional wrestling is in tag team wrestling alongside my partner Kyle Fletcher as Aussie Open. I think of us as the best duo in the world today. But I love professional wrestling in all of its competition, and my heart is in this to win. So when Will Ospreay told me that he needed me to take his place and win this for the United Empire, it just built a fire inside of me. It lit something inside of me even deeper. So I’m going to do this for the United Empire, I’m going to do this for Will Ospreay, I’m going to do this for Aussie Open, and I’m going to do this for myself. Thank you.