It’s Home: Zack Sabre Jr. Interviewed

ZSJ talks his biggest career success

‘It’s coming home’ has been a phrase either sung or uttered with tongue planted in cheek for the last thirty years in British sports, but for one night in August at least, it was an emphatic and victorious cry. Zack Sabre Jr, made good on his promise of G1 Climax 34 victory, but instantly set his sights on the next goal; not, as many expected, an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship challenge at Wrestle Kingdom 19, but rather at King of Pro-Wrestling October 14.

From there, says ZSJ, the plan is a defence just six days later on home turn at Royal Quest in London, and then on to the Wrestle Kingdom and Wrestle Dynasty main events. We spoke to the Frontman about ambitious plans and the still ongoing Summer of Sabre.

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It’s very heartwarming to be accepted by the Japanese fans

— So first of all congratulations on the G1 win. Did it feel like the reaction was even more than you had expected?

ZSJ: Yeah, completely.

— It was your eighth time in the tournament; a long time coming in your opinion?

ZSJ: Every time I entered the G1 I thought I was capable of winning, and apart from one year where I did have a losing record, I’ve always had the potential to get through. Last year I made it to the quarterfinals, for example. But I thought everything leading up to this made it seem that this was the best time to win. In wrestling, waiting isn’t always a bad thing. There’s a lot more I want to achieve beyond just the G1; before I might have been ready to win the New Japan Cup but I wasn’t ready to be IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Now I feel like everything is happening at the right time.

— There’s been a real groundswell around you winning, and you’ve been labelled a ‘people’s champion’ of sorts in Japan.

ZSJ: From the start of this G1, it felt like the Japanese fans’ perception of me had changed. It’s very heartwarming to be accepted by the Japanese crowd like that. Of course I’m a foreign wrestler, but I feel like the fans just treat me as a New Japan wrestler. They don’t treat me differently as a foreigner because I think it’s clear to them how much I love New Japan. I feel really accepted.

— You said you loved wrestling in Ryogoku. Tetsuya Naito had said that the Ryogoku G1 atmosphere is something all of its own- how did you feel wrestling there?

ZSJ: Really, the G1 concept was born in sumo tournaments, so it always made sense to have the finals in Ryogoku. Everything about the building creates an atmosphere.

If you compare Ryogoku to American wrestling where they run in basketball or hockey arenas, those buildings are built for an entirely different concept, but in Ryogoku, you can feel how the atmosphere is focused on the ring, because from sumo to pro-wrestling it’s essentially the same space. So you feel it when you come out that there’s not a bad seat in the house and there’s a feeling of specialness that every wrestler feels.

— There have been multiple non Japanese IWGP Champions but you’re only the second non Japanese G1 winner. How significant is that to you?

ZSJ: I’m very proud to be the first British G1 winner. Then again, I’m not the first foreigner to win the G1, and I won’t be the first foreigner to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. So that’s not really my motivation.

It’s about achieving it for myself, but then I think what I can do as the first foreigner is to win a Wrestle Kingdom main event. Foreigners have won in the Tokyo Dome main event, but not at Wrestle Kingdom, which is the symbol of modern day NJPW. So definitely, that’s the goal as a foreigner to win the Wrestle Kingdom main.

I would be at the top even if Okada and Ospreay were here

— It feels like there was a real fire lit in you especially in the absence of Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay this year. Is that fair to say in your opinion?

ZSJ: Even if they were still here, this would be an essential time for me to reach the top. Yeah, especially without them here my responsibility was to reach the top, and if I couldn’t reach the top without Okada or Ospreay there then when could I? But if those wrestlers were here, I would still be the G1 winner and I would still be striving for all those goals.

Them not being there is more beneficial for the younger generation than it is for me. I would still be in this position if they hadn’t left, but with the gap those wrestlers have created, there’s more space and more opportunities for everyone. I’m going to be at the top, but I won’t want to be at the top by myself.

— There’s been a lot of focus on the new generation, did you resent that to an extent?

ZSJ: The new generation is essential for New Japan, but I’d been in NJPW for eight years without being at the top. So I didn’t feel resentful or put out by not being in that conversation, but I felt I needed to remind everyone. The conversation was about ‘who’s left’ and people had forgotten who had been here the whole time.

— A lot of your G1 matches were about bringing your opponents’ skills to the fore.

ZSJ: That’s my goal. I want to beat someone when they’re at their best. I can have a domineering style, but the style I wrestle, aiming for submissions, that can make me vulnerable at times. Catch wrestling is about capitalizing on position and situation, so the better my opponents are, the better I look for winning. I want my opponents to grow even when they’re defeated. I plan on being at the top of NJPW for a long time, but I won’t be here forever, and I want this place to be better than it is now after I’m gone.

I knew Gabe was out when I heard him snore

— Were there any matches in particular you’re most proud of from your campaign?

ZSJ: The match with Gabe (August 8, Yokohama) was very important to me. I met Gabe for the first time in 2016 or 2017, when we wrestled in England, then Canada. He caught my eye straight away and he always specified how he wanted to be in Japan and follow a path similar to the one I did. He took a different path obviously in War Dogs, but his style and his energy is very important to New Japan.

Without speaking as well, we both realised how important the date of that match, August 8 in Yokohama. I’d said before the tournament that two British wrestlers were capable of having the most authentic New Japan match, especially in this modern era with how diverse styles are now. I think hopefully we had a match that resonated with the true New Japan style through the years.

— Quite the finish to that match as well.

ZSJ: I could hear him snoring before the referee stopped it- I had to tell him ‘ref, he’s out!’ (laughs). I never really target one specific submission; I change up what I do depending on what my opponent is trying to do to me. Usually that means joint holds, but Gabe is so strong and forceful that I thought if I didn’t make him go to sleep he was going to kill me.

I beat the best SANADA in Nagaoka

— I see!

ZSJ: The other one was my match with SANADA. I hadn’t realised that we hadn’t wrestled for three years. We’ve both always had a respect for technical wrestling, but I thought this was definitely our most heated match because the stakes were so high and we were in his hometown. After I won, the reception his fans had for me meant a lot.

— You had some quite strict words for SANADA before that match.

ZSJ: Like I said before, I wanted the best SANADA and the most motivated SANADA. It must be difficult to reach the top in New Japan, but then having to find the next step after he lost the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. I wanted to face the SANADA that wanted the same thing I do; to become champion again. I feel like I beat the best SANADA on that day and that was my goal.

I want to have my first defence at Royal Quest

— You’re breaking from tradition in choosing to challenge for the world title at Ryogoku October 14 rather than the Tokyo Dome. You’ve spoken about your reasons for that, but can you express again why you made that decision?

ZSJ: There’s a couple of reasons. I’ve challenged for the top title in Ryogoku twice before against Okada and failed. I love the environment there, and after I won the G1 there it makes sense to win the title in the same arena. Of course my goal is to main event Wrestle Kingdom, but the goal is not just to be in that position but to truly be at the top. The best way to prove that I am at the top of New Japan Pro-Wrestling isn’t to be the challenger at the Tokyo Dome but the champion. To retain the championship at Wrestle Kingdom means more than to win it there.

And speaking as a fan, I get that the most important tournament winner should get the most important spot at Wrestle Kingdom, but I think that structure has meant that the autumn has been at a standing position recently, and it isn’t exciting for the fans. Then for me, selfishly, I didn’t want to wait. I’ve waited 20 years to be in that spot and I didn’t want to wait anymore.

— The fans in Japan have been very receptive to that decision.

ZSJ: With Royal Quest IV having just been announced, I think a lot of British fans would be happy with me challenging there, but I think the best thing for them would be to bring the title to London and have my first defence there. After working so hard in Japan I want to win the title in Japan, but of course I want to give the fans in England my first defence.

The summer of Sabre isn’t over

— The IWGP World Heavyweight Champion right now is Tetsuya Naito, but he has to defend against Great-O-Khan before you challenge him. Naito went to 5–4 in the G1, and there are voices that he isn’t in the best shape injury wise. Any thoughts?

ZSJ: He racked up losses in the G1, but he’s the champion for a reason. I have huge respect for Naito; his body is in the shape it’s in now because he sacrificed it for NJPW and I have to respect that. And I’ve tried to write Naito off in the past to no avail, so I won’t be writing him off if he is my opponent in October.

— How important is the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship to you?

ZSJ: This current championship is somewhat new, but the letters IWGP carry the same lineage as all the top champions of the past. To me it’s the most important championship in the world; we might not be the biggest promotion in the world, but we are at the top of the world when it comes to quality, when it comes to being a true pro-wrestling company and when it comes to in ring focus. Being the champion here makes you the highest level in the world as a professional wrestler, and that’s where I’ll be in October. The summer of Sabre isn’t over.