Inside Wrestle Kingdom 14 looks at the featured matches from both days of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s (NJPW) upcoming Wrestle Kingdom events on January 4th and January 5th. This article highlights Zack Sabre Jr’s RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship.
Over the past year, the Revolution Pro (RevPro) Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship has been defended at the Tokyo Dome, Madison Square Garden, Copper Box Arena, and 366 days later will again be defended in the Tokyo Dome on night two of Wrestle Kingdom 14.
Sanada challenging Zack Sabre Jr for the title continues a pattern of the two meeting in singles competition in high stakes circumstances. Their previous four matches were either in the New Japan Cup, G1 Climax, or for the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship.
Throughout their rivalry, the two have traded clutch and cradle victories against one another in what were often flashy displays of chain wrestling. During the buildup to Wrestle Kingdom 14, the champion has proclaimed Strong Style is dead, and his unique style of catch wrestling called Saberism is now the most dominant form of wrestling.
Sanada has often let his loud clothing do the talking, choosing to say very little leading up to his fifth singles match against his rival. A victory at Wrestle Kingdom would mark his first singles championship in any of the IWGP Coalition affiliated promotions, and his first singles championship since he won the TNA X Division Championship in March 2014.
A Zack Sabre Jr victory would elevate him further in the NJPW pecking order as 2020 gets underway. A successful Wrestle Kingdom 14 defense could place ZSJ in line for an IWGP Intercontinental Championship challenge before the New Japan Cup in March.
A lot is on the line for both competitors who want to prove their brand of technical wrestling is superior when they meet at the Tokyo Dome.
Inside Wrestle Kingdom 14 Series:
1. Both Nights On Better Pace Than Last Year, A Look At The Featured Matches
2. Jyushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match I
3. G.O.D. Face FinJuice For The IWGP Heayweight Tag Team Championship
4. Lance Archer and Jon Moxley IWGP US Heavyweight Texas Death Match
5. Will Ospreay Defends His IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Against Hiromu Takahashi
6. Double Gold Dash, Jay White And Tetsuya Naito For The IWGP Intercontinental Championship
7. The Tanahashi and Jericho Match Has An Added Stipulation
8. Double Gold Dash, Kazuchika Okada And Kota Ibushi For The IWGP Heavyweight Championship
9. Jyushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match II
10. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Contest
11. Zack Sabre Jr And Sanada For The RevPro British Heavyweight Championship
12. KENTA And Hirooki Goto Battle Over The Never Openweight Championship