Though the 2023 calendar year is only half over, it's hard to find many matches that rise to the level of the bout between Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay back at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in January.

A certified classic that earned Dave Meltzer's highest rating of the year at 6.25, the bout was long, dramatic, hard-hitting, and electrifying; proving to fans wrestling that, when given a clean runway without the restraints of TV time limits or commercial breaks, Omega and Ospreay can produce the sort of magic in the ring that is practically in a different category that 99 percent of the matches run by, well, basically everyone else.

So naturally, with Ospreay-Omega II – technically Ospreay-Omega III but II of this current series – scheduled for Forbidden Door, it's only understandable that the duo would be taking shots at each other ahead of their big match, especially with The Elite expected to miss this week's Dynamite and Collision.

Sitting down for an interview with NJPW's official website, Ospreay noted that he's had one thing on his mind for months since Omega secured the win at Wrestle Kingdom 17: Revenge.

“Revenge, man,” Ospreay said. “People don’t understand, but there was so much pressure put on me at the Tokyo Dome. Like, I won’t say the name of the NJPW legend that I walked past, but before I went out there for the match, but he said ‘remind him what New Japan is all about.' That pressure was put on me, that responsibility was put on me to fly the flag.”

Asked if he feels he fell short of defending the title for NJPW, Ospreay wouldn't say that per se, but acknowledged that he just didn't have the right stuff to secure the win against one of the best of the best in his return to the promotion that made him an international superstar.

“It just angers me, because I just knew that once my head bounced off that turnbuckle from the DDT on the top rope, and I felt the blood dripping down my head, I knew I was in danger; but it was only after taking the Dragon suplexes in the ring that I knew I wasn’t going to win this match. I knew, I just didn’t have my wits about me,” Ospreay added.

“I was fighting with everything I had, but I knew I was done. And that’s heart breaking, because I kept fighting, I kept trying, but I really felt I’d let my side down. I had a responsibility, but I fell at the hurdle, and even though everyone said that the match was incredible, that doesn’t matter to me. What matters to me was that my family were at home watching that match. My mum had to turn it off half way through because she knew it was done, my missus, and like, the kid’s asking how the match went, but I can’t tell him. I can’t show him what happened.

“When I came home I had a scar here and there from the table because he was mashing my head through a table. So what do you think my mindset’s going to be? I just need revenge, man. I just want… I want to make him feel the same things he made me feel. The Tokyo Dome was fully behind me, because they saw everything that I sacrificed during the pandemic. I want him to feel the same thing, so I have to do it on (his) home territory. I’ve got to do it at Forbidden Door. I’ve got to do it in Toronto, I’ve got to do it in front of Canada.”

Will Ospreay be able to pull out the win in Toronto? Only time will tell, but for the sake of NJPW, let's hope he does, as Omega doesn't sound like he has much desire to return to Japan for a wrestling match if he still has the title after Sunday.

Kenny Omega explains why Forbidden Door is important for Will Ospreay.

Sitting down with TSN for an interview about Forbidden Door, Kenny Omega was asked about Will Ospreay's very public destain for himself and the country of Canada as a whole, “The Best Bout Machine” let it be known that he's still excited about their forthcoming match, as if he secures the win, he can enjoy another extended stay away from the NJPW ring and extend his reign without having to record any title defenses.

“I really don’t understand his beef with Canada,” Omega said via Fightful. “Perhaps it’s more Canadian people, and I think every country has some despicable people living within it. Sure, maybe I’m one of them. Perhaps the business has clouded my soul a little bit, darkened my heart. I’m not sure. I’m just here being me. What’s most important about all that is I still believe deep down that I’m probably the best wrestler and best representative on a worldwide scale of professional wrestling. So love me or not, hate me or not, I’m the benchmark. I know I’m the benchmark, so Will has to step up his game, and he has to show something much different than what he showed at Tokyo Dome because now we’re in Canada, and now this is probably gonna be his last chance to win his belt back. If he doesn’t, I really have no obligation to go back to Japan either, as much as I’d like to. So they just may lose one of their most prized possessions for an undisclosed amount of time. So it’s a very big match for Will.”

Will Omega get his wish? Can he overcome the odds, secure a second-straight win versus “The Commonwealth Kingpin,” and ride off into the sunset of trios action? Or will Ospreay come out on top and push for a rubber match between the duo, this time at All In in “Billy Goat's” home country of England? Fans will have to tune in on Sunday to find out.