As I sit here today, I have Will Ospreay & Speedball Mike Bailey at the top of the running for my Wrestler of the Year, Speedball who this year has had insane amount of matches wrestled with great in ring quality to go along with it and Ospreay who this year has reached insane levels in big match after big match, beating the likes of Omega, Okada, Marufuji, Jericho, ZSJ, Shingo & Tanahashi. Both are up there for me for different reasons but still have great cases for it. These two have wrestled each other in singles four other times in matches I really enjoyed and were supposed to do the dance at Multiverse United 1 but Will Ospreay had to be replaced by Tanahashi because of an Injury. So considering all these things, when this match was announced I lost my shit, Speedball my favorite wrestler at the moment and Ospreay a man who is on the one of the best runs I’ve witnessed, this had all the makings of a great match.
Destined to do this forever?
This match started off not with a felling out process because these guys know each other so well but with an exchange of moves both guys usually wait to hit later on. The two men both hit signature dives to the outside, Ospreay who had a 3-1 record vs Bailey looked very confident early on and Bailey of course looked very intense trying to go balls to the wall before being slowed down by a monster chop. Ospreay struck Bailey with multiple chops that eventually sent Bailey to the outside, Bailey played possum and lured Ospreay outside before hitting him with Aquatic Ambience. Speedball who is usually all smiles early on in matches was not smiling here but rather scowling as he was able to hit a drop-kick from the top rope, a couple of kicks and a running shooting star. The two men then exchanged some of their signature offense (flamingo driver, oscutter, speedballs rapid kicks) before going for double knees on the apron ended up getting speedball hit with an oscutter on said apron.
Another oscutter inside the ring had Ospreay feeling super confident as he went for the hidden blade but missed because speedball couldn’t stay up on his own, this gave Ospreay all the confidence in the world, and he talked his shit to speedball while striking him with forearms, this lit a new fire in Speedball. The overconfidence Will had, got him into a strike exchange with the known deadly striker Speedball, these two exchanged Kawada style kicks, super kicks and slaps before Ospreay hit a Hidden Blade out of nowhere to a Speedball who just landed from attempting an enzuigiri. Ospreay and Speedball both were laid out in the middle of the ring, exhausted as the hot Chicago crowd went nuts from that striking exchange. Speedball then reversed some of Ospreay’s moves allowing him to hit an AWESOME Ultima Weapon that got him a near fall on Ospreay as dueling chants for each wrestler echoed the Cicero Arena.
What followed was probably the best hidden blade I’ve ever seen, Will then set speedball up for a stormbreaker, but Speedball reversed it to a pin that got a 2 count but immediately followed with a vicious PK. Speedball then went high risk and almost got high reward when he delivered a Meteorain for another near fall. Speedball then attempted flamingo driver which was then calculated and reversed as Ospreay hit a Styles Clash in the house that AJ Styles built two decades ago for an insane near fall. Ospreay IMMEDIATELY went for a double under-hook on a lifeless Bailey and hit the controversial STORM DRIVER ’93 for ANOTHER near fall, Bailey looked to kick out out of instinct, his insane fighting spirit wouldn’t let him go out just yet but as he fought to stand up an animalistic Ospreay hits another hidden blade followed by a successful stormbreaker that allowed him to secure the win in a match that in my opinion is an ALL-TIME CLASSIC.
Closing Thoughts
Wrestling is so subjective, some may think this match was the drizzling shits and some may think it’s the best match they’ve ever seen, for me this match was unreal, my taste in wrestling changes almost every day, but this was right up my alley and felt exactly like what IMPACT needed on their biggest show of the year, It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but as a fan of both wrestlers and their styles this match felt like the perfect showcase of their contrasts and similarities in ring. I strongly suggest you check this match and some of their other matches out and join me in praying that down the line we get Speedball vs Ospreay 6, and they top this absolute masterclass
Credit to the sensational Scott Lesh @ScottLesh724 on Twitter for the amazing photos
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