Bret Hart, meet Zack Sabre Jr.

There is a new face of New Japan Pro-Wrestling–and Zack Sabre Jr.’s title victory is reminiscent of Bret Hart winning gold in October of 1992

Zack Sabre Jr./NJPW

Extra Mustard is a weekly column looking at the highs and lows–and everything in between–in combat sports and beyond.

This past summer, I spoke with Zack Sabre Jr. about his upcoming goals in professional wrestling.

And he didn’t hold back.

“It’s probably somewhat dramatic to say that my career will have been a failure if I don’t win both the G1 this year and the IWGP world heavyweight title,” he said. “But that’s the guy feeling I have–and I’m vegan, so I have a great constitution.”

That intuition proved prescient, as Sabre won the G1 Climax–New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s vaunted round robin tournament–over the summer, then cashed in his title shot earlier today, defeating Tetsuya Naito at Ryōgoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo to crown himself IWGP world heavyweight champion.

This feels a lot like Bret Hart’s first world title win, which occurred when he defeated Ric Flair in October of 1992. Sabre is beloved as a technician, and he has constantly added value to every title worn in NJPW. For the past seven years, however, he was never looked at as someone to carry the company from the top spot–until now.

Bret Hart won his first world title in October of 1992/WWE

When Hart won the gold, Vince McMahon’s promotion was in a time of transition. Hulk Hogan was no longer starring for the company, and McMahon was in the process of replacing Randy Savage, Flair, and the Ultimate Warrior with new stars. Though Hogan would win the belt the following spring at WrestleMania, there would be no more title runs for Savage, Warrior, or Flair.

New Japan is in a similar spot. Many of its modern icons–most notably Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Kenny Omega–wrestle elsewhere. Naito still plays a major role for the company, but he is so beat up physically that he can no longer carry the company as champ. 

Just like Hart defeating Flair for the WWE title, it is the right time to move in a new direction in New Japan. Sabre is different from everyone on the roster. The British star–who moved to Japan as a sign of dedication to NJPW–works a distinct style in the ring, focusing on punishing body parts.

Hart understood the importance of wrestling psychology…/WWE

… which is also an area where Sabre excels/NJPW