ROH Honorable Mention: ROH Signs Ospreay and Scrull

Just in time for Ring of Honor’s Reach For the Sky tour in England next week, the company has announced that Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll have both signed exclusive contracts.

Ospreay made his wrestling debut just over four years ago, wrestling under a mask under the moniker Dark Britannico at BritWres-Fest. Since then, he made a name for himself as the “Aerial Assassin” ever since, wowing audiences as part of London based companies Progress Wrestling and Revolution Pro. Earlier this year, he signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling, entering and winning the company’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament this summer.

A match with Ricochet during the tournament garnered millions of eyes for the innovative style that dominated the bout. Despite widespread plaudits, the match was also derided from being a “spotfest”, specifically by Vader. After an apparent airing out of their grievances through Twitter, Ospreay and Vader wrestled in front of Rev Pro crowd, with Vader going over, but Ospreay gaining more notoriety nonetheless. Of the course of 2016, Ospreay flirted with American promotion, EVOLVE, even being presented with a contract by Paul Heyman, who worked closely with EVOLVE promoter Gabe Sapolsky during his ECW days.

Despite the very public offer by EVOLVE, ROH announced that Ospreay and Scurll will not only compete on the company’s three shows in England next week, but they will be staying the company moving forward.

Marty Scurll is another British wrestler who has appeared on EVOLVE shows this year and after years of toiling away in Britain and plying his trade, has began to make a footprint in the United States. Aside from his work in EVOLVE, Scurll has wrestled for Pro Wrestling Guerilla, twice competing in the Battle for Los Angeles. He came up short in the 2015 edition, but was able to win a triple threat BOLA finals match against Ospreay and Trevor Lee. he started his career as a clean shaven, short haired babyface but has since transformed into “The Villain”, sporting long hair and a rough-hewn beard while carrying the accoutrement of another famous villain, the Penguin, whenever he comes to ringside. His unique style and charisma have elevated him to being one of the most intriguing free agents out there and his signing in ROH portends an eventful 2017 for the newly acquired talent.

Wasting no time in putting the newly signed British stars, ROH will be prominently featuring the three men during the Reach for the Sky tour and has announced who they will face off with on the trio of shows.

“These two will be tested right out of the gate: on November 18 in Liverpool, Scurll will face one of ROH’s most popular stars, Dalton Castle while Ospreay will face the ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish in a Proving Ground Match! This is a big opportunity for Will Ospreay, although he has recently expressed his discontent with it not being for the title. Ospreay feels that even though this is his first ROH match, he is well proven internationally and deserves the title shot just as much as anyone else on the roster. The next night, November 19, these men who have no love lost for one another will attempt to put their differences aside for one night in an attempt to defeat the ROH World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks in a non-title bout! Finally, on November 20 in London, Ospreay and Scurll will stand on opposite sides of the ring from one another since the Finals of BOLA when they clash one-on-one in London!”

With the news that ACH will not be re-signing with Ring of Honor, as well as the departure of Roderick Strong, Cedric Alexander and Moose this year, the signing of these two international superstars is not only certain to attract new fans, but will also fundamentally change the face of the ROH roster. Right off the bat, the two will face four of the most over wrestlers on the roster in the form of Castle, Fish and The Young Bucks, ending their debuts will a clash against each other. While WWE has signed major independent talent to its NXT brand, Ring of Honor has also made a splash in bringing in notable talent that has the ability to solidify its status as one of the top companies in professional wrestling.