Marty Scurll Discusses Stigma Of Junior Heavyweights In NJPW

Marty Scurll wants to help elevate the Junior Heavyweight division and New Japan.  

Earlier this year, Marty Scurll lost his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Will Ospreay who is no longer Champion and in an interview with Sports Illustrated Scurll said while Ospreay was Champion he added to the negative connotation of being a Junior Heavyweight in New Japan Pro Wrestling. 

“In Japan, I certainly think that the Junior Heavyweight division is sometimes positioned as ‘less than’ the heavyweight division….It doesn’t help when the champion Will Ospreay goes around telling people he wants to “move up” to the heavys like it’s some kind of a promotion. He should be proud to be junior champ and want to take that belt to new heights. I know I was when I was champ. I wanted to take that belt to new places, be a difference maker,” said Scurll

Since debuting at the Best of the Super Juniors in 2017, Scurll has been a big part of the Junior Heavyweight division and he said he hopes to help push NJPW to a new level. 

“I love wrestling in Japan so much. It’s just the best. The stories you can tell there are just so authentic and organic. You wrestle and the fans react. It’s genuine. It’s legit. Unlike many other wrestlers I’m not using New Japan as a platform to go to WWE. I’m there because it’s where I’m meant to be. I want to help take the company to new places, break boundaries and that glass ceiling. Provide the fans that alternative they’ve craved for since the late ‘90s,” said Scurll. 

In the rest of the interview, Scurll discussed his match from Saturday at Ring of Honor Best in the World where he faced Cody Rhodes and Dalton Castle in a World Championship triple threat. 

The full interview is available at SI.com.