Zack Sabre Jr is the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
After shocking the world on February 11, 2025, Hirooki Goto is no longer on the top of the mountain. To recall, Hirooki Goto and Zack Sabre Jr had their world title rematch at Resurgence and the match ended in a controversial double pin. A rematch was always inevitable because an official result was not determined that night.
After Goto successfully defended his title against Shingo Takagi at Dominion, Zack and Goto finally had their rematch and the 37-year-old came out on top this time. It was one hell of a battle between the two New Japan stars with Sabre kicked out of the GTR was a strong nearfall, and Goto did the same after a Sabre Driver and a You’ve Been Tangoed Edition. The finish saw Zack apply an armbar and Goto was forced to tap out.
That effectively ends Goto’s world title run at 138 days. The New Japan veteran successfully defended his belt six times; with some of those victories coming against top level names such as David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Shota Unimo.
This is Sabre’s second title run. His first lasted for 120 days; can he outlast it? We’ll find out! At the moment, it’s not clear who’s the next challenger for the prestigious belt, but the G1 Climax is less than a month away, so Zack will be very busy in that tournament since he’s automatically in it.
Hirooki Goto is also in the G1 Climax as well. It’s quite possible that these two meet in the finals once again and should the 46-year-old beat Zack in a rematch then he’ll earn another chance at the world title at Wrestle Kingdom 20.
Below is the confirmed results for the latest New Japan show:
- Hiroshi Tanahashi & Naomichi Marufuji defeated Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa
- Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hirooki Goto to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
- El Phantasmo defeated Taiji Ishimori to retain the NJPW World TV Championship
- Master Wato, YOH, El Desperado & Dragon Kid defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SANADA, DOUKI & SHO
- Boltin Oleg defeated Yuji Nagata to retain the NEVER Openweight Championship
- Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Ren Narita, and EVIL defeated YOSHI-HASHI, Taichi, Tomohiro Ishii, and Yuya Uemura
- Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated LEONA, Hiromu Takahashi, & Tatsumi Fujinami
- Katsuya Murashima vs. Daiki Odashima ended in a time limit draw