16 Ups & 9 Downs For NJPW In 2018

9. The Rise Of Zack Sabre Jr.

Zack Sabre Jr. has a key role to play if New Japan are to continue pushing into the European market, and the company understand this. They've done a great job building him throughout 2018.

The Englishman's ascension started in the New Japan Cup. Most had him going out in the first round when the bracket was drawn, but ZSJ couldn't stop winning. Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi, SANADA, and, finally, Hiroshi Tanahashi: every major star that stood in his way fell, and Sabre earned a huge IWGP Heavyweight Championship shot at Sakura Genesis in victory. It didn't matter that he was felled by Kazuchika Okada that night: ZSJ was already a made man.

A profitable G1 Climax followed. Though winning was out of the question, Sabre finished level on points with eventual B Block victor Kota Ibushi, further establishing him as a dangerous submissionist capable of putting anyone in the company away at any given time. There isn't a person on this roster he can't realistically beat. Naito, Okada, and Tanahashi all fell by his hand in 2018. Few would bet against him retaking the British Heavyweight Championship when he meets Tomohiro Ishii on 4 January, and even fewer would doubt his chances of pushing even further up the NJPW card in 2019, with an IWGP Intercontinental Title reign now a believable possibility.