RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr (ZSJ). and Will Ospreay competed against one another ins singles competition on 11 occasions before their night-two The New Beginning in Sapporo match on February 2, 2020. ZSJ held a 7-4 record over the challenger, in a rivalry that began back in September 2014, according to Cagematch.
Their match in Sapporo was historic as it was the first time two British wrestlers competed in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship in company history. The two shining stars from the United Kingdom come from different wrestling backgrounds as ZSJ is grounded in the catch style of wrestling popularized by the likes of Billy Robinson, his trainer Andre Baker, Karl Gotch, Johnny Saint, his Suzuki-Gun unit mate Minoru Suzuki, and numerous others who harken back on the Joint Promotions tradition from decades prior. On the other hand, Will Ospreay came up through being inspired by the Mexican wrestling tradition of Lucha Libre, previously citing Rey Misterio (commonly spelled as Mysterio in English speaking countries) Jr as one of his major influences.
Despite some decrying Ospreay of not having the skills necessary to succeed without his patented aerial arsenal, he proved otherwise during the 27 minutes and 4 seconds he grappled with ZSJ. Most of the contest would have been right at home in NJPW during the 1980s, where keen mat wrestling was the predominant style of the promotion. In several instances, Ospreay was able to better ZSJ, who numerous individuals see as being the best technical wrestler in professional wrestling.
At other points, Ospreay used his world-class athleticism to maneuver his way out of the grasp of ZSJ and putting space in between the two combatants. Yet, Ospreay couldn’t find enough answers for ZSJ’s relentless submission attack and would eventually lose by referee stoppage after Red Shoes Unno judged him as being unresponsive.
After following his successful championship defense against Sanada on night-two of Wrestle Kingdom 14 with a victory over Will Ospreay, ZSJ is off to one of the hottest starts in 2020. The victory proves that his expert submission ability makes him a threat to anyone on the NJPW roster. While Ospreay will have to collect himself after back to back defeats in title matches, this one falling his losing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Hiromu Takahashi on night-one of Wrestle Kingdom 14.
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