Zack Sabre Jr has revealed turning down signing for the WWE to join up with NJPW – and was vindicated in his decision after a huge Wrestle Kingdom victory.
He revealed in a Twitter post after the final New Japan Pro Wrestling show, which featured the final match of the Suzuki-Gun faction, about how he was offered a WWE contract before deciding to sign full-time with NJPW.
The group was one of the top factions in NJPW since their debut in 2011 up until when they disbanded in 2022.
At first they were known as Kojima-Gun, led by then-IWGP Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima.
However, after losing the title to Hiroshi Tanahashi, he was usurped by Minoru Suzuki and the group was renamed to Suzuki-Gun. It remained that until 2022 when the group was disbanded on the final show of the year after 11 years as a group.
Zack Sabre Jr was one of the latest additions to the group and was despondent at the end of the group. He also announced the end of his tag team with Taichi, which was known as Dangerous Tekkers. In the Twitter post, he said;
“Six years ago I had the choice between WWE and New Japan. I chose New Japan because Minoru Suzuki invited me into Suzuki-gun. It’s more than a team, it’s family. Today isn’t just the end of Suzuki-gun, today’s the end of Dangerous Tekkers.”
His offer to sign for WWE came during his time wrestling in the Cruiserweight Classic. In 2016, WWE hired a number of wrestlers on short-term deals to compete in an all-cruiserweight competition featuring 32 of the top junior heavyweight wrestlers in the world.
One of these stars was Zack Sabre Jr, who was instantly made one of the favourites to win. Fellow NJPW wrestler Will Ospreay revealed he turned down the chance to appear in the tournament, making Sabre Jr the biggest British star in the entire competition.
He made it all the way to the semi-finals but fell to Gran Metalik in the live final episode. This was because he turned down the aforementioned WWE deal, not wanting to be stuck in NXT and with a style that Vince McMahon would never push on the main roster.
Instead, he continued with NJPW and signed a full-time deal with the company. His commitment was clearly rewarded in 2023, when he defeated Ren Narita to become the first ever NJPW World Television Champion, with his big win at Wrestle Kingdom 17.
He followed this up by winning the G1 Climax in 2024, becoming the first Briton to win the prestigious tournament.
While other gaijin like Will Ospreay and Jay White left for AEW, Zack Sabre Jr’s loyalty was rewarded when he defeated Tetsuya Naito to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career. He became only the second Briton, after Ospreay, to win the title.
Zack Sabre Jr Rejected WWE To Sign With NJPW
NJPW star Zack Sabre Jr is gearing up for a big match at Forbidden Door this year, but has recently revealed why he rejected signing with the WWE.
The British star is one of the biggest stars in NJPW now, and came very close to winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Kazuchika Okada last year.
Zack Sabre Jr. recently spoke with NJPW1972.com, and talked about the reason why he turned down the WWE to sign for NJPW.
The British star revealed that, in a metaphorical sense, he turned down the “biggest record label” so he could focus on his own art, rather than be moulded into the WWE style of wrestling.
“It would be like asking a musician, ‘Why didn’t you sign with the biggest record label?’ I’m just concerned with being the best professional wrestler I can be. …It was really just a personal choice. This is my path.”
Zack Sabre Jr will not be wrestling for WWE in the future but is likely to be a big part of the next AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door show.
