Zack Sabre Jr. Believes He Would Be In Same Position If AEW Stars Were Still In NJPW

G1 Climax 34 winner Zack Sabre Jr. believes he would be in the same position if AEW’s Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay were still in NJPW.

On August 18, Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Yota Tsuji to win the NJPW G1 Climax 34 tournament final. Sabre Jr. decided to not take his title shot at Wrestle Kingdom 19 next year and wanted to break tradition by challenging for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title on October 14 at NJPW King of Pro Wrestling.

This brought some much needed positive attention to the company after the departures of Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay to AEW earlier this year.

In an interview with New Japan Pro Wrestling’s website, Zack Sabre Jr. stated he would be in the same position if Okada and Ospreay were still in NJPW. He said:

“Even if they were still here, this would be an essential time for me to reach the top.”

“Yeah, especially without them here my responsibility was to reach the top, and if I couldn’t reach the top without Okada or Ospreay there then when could I?”

“But if those wrestlers were here, I would still be the G1 winner and I would still be striving for all those goals.”

On Okada and Ospreay’s departures benefitting the younger generation more, ZSJ said:

“Them not being there is more beneficial for the younger generation than it is for me.”

“I would still be in this position if they hadn’t left, but with the gap those wrestlers have created, there’s more space and more opportunities for everyone. I’m going to be at the top, but I won’t want to be at the top by myself.”

Zack Sabre Jr. also appeared at the AEW All In London event in the Casino Gauntlet match, which was eventually won by Christian Cage.

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