English wrestler Zack Sabre Jr has made history with his latest five-star classic match.
The NJPW Television Champion recently defeated Hechicero in a fantastic bout at CMLL Sabados de Coliseo. The technical wrestlers clashed at the Arena Coliseo, in a best two out of three falls match. It showcased both men’s mat skills, and fans were rabidly behind their Mexican hero for the bout.
While Hechicero won the match, both men came out looking fantastic. In what was miles ahead of their PWG match some years back, Hechiceo pinned Zack Sabre Jr to win the final fall and take home the victory in his home country.
However, it was the Englishman who walked out with a brand-new record. This was determined today, with the release of this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter. In it, esteemed journalist Dave Meltzer revealed his star rating for the match.
He rated matches on a confusing scale, that originally was out of four stars. At some point, the ceiling became four, five, six and finally seven stars, while also adding negatives into the equation. A five-star match is generally considered a fantastic match, and it is a rating many wrestlers aspire toward.
Zack Sabre Jr vs Hechicero was rated at five-stars. This is the NJPW wrestler’s tenth five-star match. This isn’t a record in itself, but he did break one with this performance.
Zack Sabre Jr is the first and only wrestler to have five-star matches in six different wrestling companies. These include CMLL, AEW, NJPW, RevPro, PWG and La Triple W. Four of these are against Will Ospreay, while two were him facing off against Bryan Danielson.
No other wrestler has ever managed this feat. Of course, it is just one man’s opinion, but it is still a nice nod to the already legendary status of Zack Sabre Jr as an all-time British wrestling great.
Zack Sabre Jr’s Five-Star Matches
As previously mentioned, Zack Sabre Jr has competed in ten five-star matches. These include matches in promotions such as AEW, NJPW and RevPro, in multiple countries. These include the US, Japan, Great Britain, Mexico and Spain.
Zack Sabre’s Jr five-star matches are, in order of when they occurred:
- vs WALTER (Gunther) ~ PWG All Star Weekend 13 – Night 2 (21/10/17)
- vs A-Kid (Axiom) ~ La Triple W Total Rumble 8 (14th April 2018)
- vs Will Ospreay ~ RevPro High Stakes (14th February 2014)
- vs Will Ospreay ~ NJPW New Japan Cup Night 8 (14th March 2021)
- vs Will Ospreay ~ NJPW New Japan Cup Night 13 (21st Match 2021)
- vs Shingo Takagi ~ NJPW New Japan Cup Night 14 (26th Match 2022)
- vs Bryan Danielson ~ AEW WrestleDream (1st October 2023)
- vs Will Ospreay ~ NJPW Royal Quest III (14th October 2023)
- vs Bryan Danielson ~ NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka (11th February 2024)
- vs Hechicero ~ CMLL Sabados de Coliseo (22nd June 2024)
Which is your favourite? Let us know in the comment section below.
