Naito wants Sabre Jr. around.
It is official that at NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling on October 14th, Tetsuya Naito will be defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against G1 Climax 34 winner, Zack Sabre Jr.
Naito invited reporters to a restaurant to talk about the match and Tokyo Sports was among those present. It was mentioned that foreigners such as Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay and Jay White have departed New Japan when the goal of main eventing the Tokyo Dome has been accomplished.
Naito thinks Sabre Jr. could do the same. He added that he wants to stop Zack in his tracks for the sake of the company and for the Japanese fans that love Sabre Jr. He admitted he does not want Zack to accomplish all his goals yet because he does not want him to leave.
Of course, first and foremost, it’s for my own sake (reasons why I can’t lose IWGP World Title to Zack Sabre Jr.). But for the sake of the Japanese fans who support Zack, and for the sake of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, I have to stop him here.
I think the Tokyo Dome main event was one of the goals of everyone. It is natural for people to move on to the next stage after achieving a goal, so it is possible that Zack will do the same. But I don’t want that to happen to him, as he is loved in Japan. That’s why I think it’s better not to let him achieve all of his goals yet.
I think it’s great (that Sabre Jr. is settled in Japan & is speaking Japanese), but I’m not without concerns. How many foreign wrestlers have said they love Japan like Zack does, and that New Japan is their home?…
Sabre Jr. versus Naito will be the main event of King of Pro-Wrestling and here’s the complete lineup:
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
- IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: David Finlay (c) vs. Hirooki Goto
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: DOUKI (c) vs. SHO
- Hiroshi Tanahashi’s 25th Anniversary Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino & El Phantasmo vs. House of Torture (EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
- NJPW World Television Championship — Three-Way Match: Jeff Cobb (c) vs. Yota Tsuji vs. Ren Narita
- NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Ryohei Oiwa
- IWGP Tag Team Championships: T.M.D.K. (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) (c) vs. Bad Luck Fale & Caveman Ugg
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney) (c) vs. Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA
- Hiromu Takahashi vs. Místico
