9 HUGE NJPW Power Struggle Predictions You Need To Know

2. Tetsuya Naito Vs Zack Sabre Jr

Power Struggle
NJPW

Match-of-the-night honors will surely go to this encounter, with two of the brightest and best from this year's G1 Climax ready to go to war as part of the ongoing Suzuki-Gun/Los Ingobernables de Japon story.

Minoru Suzuki's battles with the former Intercontinental Champion marginally underwhelmed, but nearly everything else from the summer tournament onwards has seen Naito begin his rise back to prominence following the collapse of his year post-Wrestle Kingdom.

On that night, he fell to then-unstoppable IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada, but 'The Rainmaker' was in incomparable form at the time. Zack Sabre Jr came close shortly after - his New Japan Cup victory earned him a failed punt at the Champion, but he built on that loss with series of scintillating singles and tag team battles before claiming his scalp over the broken version of the former titleholder later in the year.

Naito was in a slump when Zack walked all over him in March, but he's let his Suzuki-like rage get the better of him under the stewardship of 'The King'. Naito's 'Tranquilo' stands in direct contrast, and will serve him best on the night.

Winner: Tetsuya Naito

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett