Will Ospreay made a reference to the disgraced wrestler Chris Benoit at Forbidden Door, much to the chagrin of the live crowd.
The Englishman battled Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, in a rematch from their critically-acclaimed bout from Wrestle Kingdom 17.
In the build up to the match, Ospreay took delight in mocking Kenny Omega and his home country of Canada.
This extended into the match, which saw Ospreay take a Canadian flag from the crowd, rub it on his genitals and pick his nose with it.
While this seems like enough to get the crowd to a fever pitch, it was the reference to Chris Benoit that had the crowd chanting some rather unsavory things towards the British star.
Will Ospreay Referenced Chris Benoit During Kenny Omega Match
Toward the end of the match, Will Ospreay referenced the late Chris Benoit, by executing the former World Heavyweight Champion’s signature move.
In the Rabid Wolverine‘s home country, Will Ospreay shocked the crowd by transitioning from the Sharpshooter tothe Crippler Crossface.
The crossface was a move popularized by Chris Benoit. He used the move to win most of his matches, including the main event of WrestleMania 20.
However, Will Ospreay’s reference to Chris Benoit didn’t come at a great time.
His match at Forbidden Door came just one day after the anniversary of Chris Benoit’s death, when he killed his wife, son and them himself in his home, over a single weekend.
While this seems slightly tasteless, it was also superb heel work from Will Ospreay that didn’t take away from the match at all.
The Crowd Were Not Happy With Will Ospreay
Following his controversial reference to Chris Benoit, the crowd directed all their ire toward Will Ospreay.
As he lay in the ring, clutching at the face of Kenny Omega and locking him in the submission, the crowd let their feelings known.
As he had Kenny Omega locked in the Crippler Crossface, the Toronto crowd yelled “you sick f***!” at the English star, much to his delight.
This was not the first time they had directed expletives toward Will Ospreay. Earlier in the match, they had chanted “You’re a w******” toward Ospreay, much to the delight of Tony Schiavone on commentary.
He Paid Tribute To Other Legends In The Match
Chris Benoit was not the only man that Will Ospreay borrowed from in his match against Kenny Omega.
The former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion took inspiration from WWE Hall of Famer and Canadian hero Bret Hart in the match in Toronto.
Before locking in the Crossface, Will Ospreay tangled Kenny Omega up in the Sharpshooter finishing move, which was made famous by The Hitman in the WWE.
However, his most obvious reference to a legend was when he hit Kenny Omega with the Tiger Driver 91.
The powerbomb/piledriver variant saw him drop Omega on his head and neck, with one of the most dangerous moves of all time.
The move was innovated by Mitsoharu Misawa, who coined the name due to his history as Tiger Mask in Japan.
Ospreay has since re-christened the move as Storm Driver 93, indicating that he may use it sometime in the future.
“I saw the Tiger Driver ’98, whatever you want to call it — that stuff does scare me because the potential for injury is so great.” Bryan Danielson continued.
“And I know specifically from a Kenny Omega — him and Will Ospreay are just fantastic — was it worth it? Did it actually make the match better, or is it just risky and part of their career? I don’t have the answer for that.
“We all did things, I did things to get noticed that I wouldn’t do today. You have to balance those things and those are two very driven men about wanting to put on the best pro wrestling matches they can.
“I don’t think it’s my responsibility to say who should do what because I’ve done some pretty stupid things in my career, but I think we should be working with our medical staff to approve certain things.”