NJPW star Zack Sabre Jr. spoke with the company on a number of topics related to pro wrestling, including the importance of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Sabre Jr. said, “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.”
On his G1 Climax victory:
“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.”
On how he would still have won even if Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay were still in the promotion:
“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.”
