Zack Sabre Jr. is no longer the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion!
Zack Sabre Jr. shocked the world on October 14, 2024 when he beat Tetsuya Naito for the belt at King of Pro-Wrestling. This was a special moment since the 37-year-old has been with New Japan Pro-Wrestling for nearly a decade and finally won the biggest prize in the promotion.
However, on February 2, 2025, Zack’s time as the world champion came to an end by a surprising name - Hirooki Goto. The newly crowned IWGP World Heavyweight Champion has been in New Japan for over two decades. The 45-year-old has won several singles titles such as the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and the NEVER Openweight title (five times!), but he’s never been able to crack the code on how to win the world title.
Goto and Zack had a grueling 20-plus minute match and the champion hit everything that's beaten his past opponents, but Goto was resilient and ultimately hit the GTR three times to capture the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career.
Zack kept the world title for 120 days and successfully defended it four times before dropping it to Goto. There’s no telling where the former champion will go from here, but we know what happens next with Goto and the world title.
Following his title win, NJPW.com spoke with Goto and he vowed to 'keep this revolution going'. Goto said that he wanted to give Hiroshi Tanahashi one last opportunity at the world belt before the Ace retires, and he strongly suggested a match at the Anniversary show on March 6. Yuji Nagata also wanted a crack at the belt and Goto promised him a title match if he’s able to beat Tanahashi.
Below is the confirmed line-up for the 53rd Anniversary show:
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Hirooki Goto (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: El Desperado (c) vs. Francesco Akira
Congratulations to Hirooki Goto! It'll be fun to watch his matches throughout his title run.