English star Zack Sabre Jr made history today as he became the first gaijin to walk out of Wrestle Kingdom as the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.
The world champion defended his title against Shota Umino in a brilliant match. He took 44-minutes to finish off his Japanese opponent, with a series of piledrivers ending a pinfall victory for the star.
This marks an 18-year wait for a foreigner to win in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom. After the failures of Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay and Jay White, Zack Sabre Jr walked in to the Tokyo Dome as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and walked out with the very same belt.
It was a huge moment in his career. Zack Sabre Jr won the G1 Climax and IWGP World Heavyweight Championship earlier this year, beating Tetsuya Naito to hold the title.
He get the belt until January 4th, where a first Wrestle Kingdom main event awaited him. The crowd were firmly behind the Englishman, as Shota Umino received mixed reactions from a predominantly Japanese crowd.
There was a huge pop when Zack Sabre Jr pinned Shota Umino to win the match and make history as the first foreign winner of the main event.
Zack Sabre Jr previously admitted he had no plans to leave Japan, and it appears New Japan management have rewarded him by making him the top star in the entire company.
While no foreign wrestler has ever won the main event of Wrestle Kingdom, Brock Lesnar beat Shinsuke Nakamura at the January 4th Tokyo Dome show back in 2006.
However, this was before Wrestle Kingodm was created, and as such Zack Sabre Jr becomes the only man to hold that honour.
