A variety of subjects touched on by Sabre Jr.
On November 4th, New Japan Pro-Wrestling is presenting their Power Struggle event from Osaka. One of the championship matches scheduled for the show is T.M.D.K. (Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) challenging Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Titles.
Going into the show, NJPW1972.com pushed out a new interview with Sabre Jr. He talked about the match he had with Bryan Danielson at AEW WrestleDream. Sabre Jr. said he does not think there’s another American wrestler who’s influenced him more than Danielson.
He recounted wrestling Danielson in Coventry, England at a pub. Circling back to the topic of their WrestleDream bout, Sabre Jr. said it did not determine who’s the better technical wrestler because Danielson leaned into striking. He stated that they’ll run it back when the time is right.
People often ask me about self reflection at different points of my career, and it’s hard to do in the moment. But I did allow myself a bit of time to think before the bell went in Seattle (at WrestleDream). We had wrestled in Germany in wXw as well, but the match that had a real influence on my career was that Triple X Wrestling match in Coventry. The Tam O’shanter pub (laughs).
I’m still grateful to Triple X for giving me an opportunity I was nowhere near ready for at that time. And for Bryan (Danielson) as well. He could easily have phoned it in, gone through the motions, but he treated me as someone deserving of all his energy. I bought the first Ring of Honor tape back in the day, so I don’t think there’s another American wrestler who’s had such an influence on me, directly and indirectly.
Results are everything though. I can acknowledge Bryan Danielson somewhat graciously, but I’m still furious that our bout in Seattle did nothing to settle the matter of who is the best technical wrestler in the world. Only that he’s a scoundrel that resorted to a strike because he knew he couldn’t match the tekkers. So there’s no doubt we have to run it back when the time is right.
Sabre Jr. is traveling back and forth to Japan, the U.K. and USA. He shared that one promotion in the U.S. he’d like to venture into is IMPACT Wrestling. He named Josh Alexander, X Division Champion Chris Sabin and IMPACT World Champion Alex Shelley as potential first-time opponents.
IMPACT (is where I’d like to venture into). I think IMPACT is the one major promotion I haven’t wrestled in yet. Alex Shelley is their World Champion, we’ve never wrestled. Chris Sabin, I don’t think we’ve wrestled. Josh Alexander as well, that would be a great matchup for me. But definitely Mike Bailey. We’ve faced each other a few times but I think we should do it on a major scale. And we both lost to Ospreay so this would be a chance to redeem ourselves.
There has been one NJPW World Television Champion since Wrestle Kingdom 17 and that is Sabre Jr. He has a goal in mind to hit 20 title defenses before the end of 2023. He is currently at 16. If he hits the 20 mark, Sabre Jr. feels it’ll make him stand out as the best champion in NJPW history.
I grew up as a fan when there were only just four championships. I remember when the IWGP Junior Tag Titles were fairly new. I’ve been dubious about new titles being introduced over time, and in the time I’ve been here, but I thought with the World TV Title that at least this is a championship with a completely unique purpose and character. I’ve said I want to get to 20 defenses this year and doing that would really make myself stand out as the best champion in New Japan history.
At the conclusion of 2022, the Suzuki-gun faction disbanded. Most of group members have since found new factions to be a part of.
Sabre Jr. was asked if there’s competition between any of them. He would not say that’s the case and is glad everyone landed on their feet. Sabre Jr. said Suzuki-gun gave him his purpose and identity as a wrestler and he’ll always be grateful for that faction.
It’s not competition so much (between former Suzuki-gun members). I’m just happy that each member has found their place and purpose. It’s rare in pro-wrestling for a group to be around so long and for it to end amicably, and for the benefit of the company as well. Suzuki Gun gave me my purpose and identity as a wrestler, and I’ll always be grateful for that time there.
After Power Struggle, Sabre Jr. is going to be heading into a title defense at NJPW Lonestar Shootout. He’ll be defending the World TV Title against ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey.
