Will Ospreay pulled from Impact/NJPW Multiverse United show, replaced by bigger star

Will Ospreay was scheduled to wrestle “Speedball” Mike Bailey in the co-main event of the joint PPV between Impact and NJPW on March 30. Unfortunately, Ospreay recently injured his shoulder. That resulted in him being pulled from dates, including the New Japan Cup tournament, Revolution Pro in the UK, and Multiverse United: Only the STRONG Survive.

Impact and NJPW were in a bit of a pickle, since Ospreay versus Bailey was an attraction with match of the year potential. They needed someone with superstar appeal to satisfy paying customers. In my opinion, they delivered with the legend Hiroshi Tanahashi.

This bout will be the first time Tanahashi and Bailey have wrestled each other. Impact described it as a dream match. Tanahashi is comparable to the John Cena of NJPW and was the Ace of the company. Among his many accolades in NJPW, he held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship eight times. Tanahashi also has great hair.

The card for Multiverse United: Only the STRONG Survive includes:

• Impact World Championship: Josh Alexander (c) vs. Kushida
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey
• NJPW Strong Openweight Championship: Kenta (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki
• Knockouts Championship: Mickie James (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Gisele Shaw vs. Miyu Yamashita
• Impact World Tag Team Championship: Bullet Club (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) (c) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) vs. TMDK (Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
• X-Division Championship: Trey Miguel (c) vs. Rich Swann vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Rocky Romero vs. Kevin Knight vs. Clark Connors
• Moose vs. Jeff Cobb
• PCO, Callihan, Fred Rosser, & Alex Coughlin vs. Eddie Edwards, Joe Hendry, Tom Lawlor, & JR Kratos
• Yuya Uemura vs. Gabriel Kidd (pre-show)

Multiverse United: Only the STRONG Survive will air on Fite TV.

Are you satisfied with Hiroshi Tanahashi as the replacement for Will Ospreay?