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AEW Star Defeats Zack Sabre Jr., Wins IWGP World Heavyweight Title At NJPW KOPW

Zack Sabre Jr. celebrates with the IWGP World Championship

Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

Other than a four month reign by Hirooki Goto earlier this year, Zack Sabre Jr. has largely owned the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship scene in New Japan Pro Wrestling after first winning the title nearly a year ago. Since then, Sabre has held the title twice in dominant fashion, headlining Wrestle Kingdom and Wrestle Dynasty and defeating the likes of Shota Umino, Shingo Takagi, Ricochet, and Nigel McGuinness along the way.

Unfortunately for Sabre, this morning his second run came to an end at the hands of a top AEW star. In front of 5,000+ fans at New Japan’s King of Pro Wrestling event in Tokyo, G1 Climax winner Konosuke Takeshita defeated Sabre in 31 minutes to claim the title. The hard fought back and forth match saw Takeshita connect with several hard strikes while Sabre worked over Takeshita’s arm; in the end, Takeshita powered through and hit two knee strikes, including one with his knee pad down, to put Sabre away.

Takeshita didn’t have long to celebrate, however, as he was immediately confronted by Goto, who challenged for the title. Takeshita mocked Goto and the fans, and notably criticized the younger stars in New Japan’s locker room for not stepping up to challenge him. Even still, he accepted Goto’s challenge, though it remains unclear whether the match will take place soon or at Wrestle Kingdom in January.

The victory makes Takeshita, who holds contracts with AEW, New Japan, and DDT, the second AEW star to hold the IWGP World Title in the last year, following Jon Moxley’s three month championship reign in 2024. He will look to add more gold this weekend at AEW WrestleDream, when he and Don Callis Family stablemate, and budding frenemy, Kazuchika Okada challenge Brodido for the AEW World Tag Team Championships.

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NJPW Destruction in Kobe live results: Sabre vs. Narita IWGP title match

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The IWGP World Heavyweight title is on the line in the main event of NJPW Destruction in Kobe today.

Zack Sabre Jr. defends the title against Ren Narita by way of Narita defeating Sabre in a non-title match in this year’s G1 Climax 35 tournament. Narita also holds a victory over Sabre from the 2024 New Japan Cup, and is 2-1 overall in singles matches against the champion.

Shingo Takagi challenges Gabe Kidd for the IWGP Global Championship in the semi-main event today. David Finlay and Yota Tsuji square off in a special singles match second from the top, their third singles meeting of 2025, each holding a victory over the other.

Hiromu Takahashi will defend the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship against Taiji Ishimori, Taichi and Tomohiro Ishii defend the IWGP Tag titles against Oskar and Yuto-Ice, plus Boltin Oleg defends the NEVER Openweight title against Don Fale in the night’s other championship matches.

Hiroshi Tanahashi wrestles Great-O-Khan for perhaps the final time in a special singles match second on today’s card.

The show opens with Shota Umino, YOSHI-HASHI, and Yuya Uemura taking on EVIL, SANADA, and Dick Togo in a trios bout.

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  • El Desperado, Shota Umino, YOH, YOSHI-HASHI & Yuya Uemura defeated House Of Torture

Main Card

El Desperado, Shota Umino, YOH, YOSHI-HASHI & Yuya Uemura defeated House Of Torture (Dick Togo, DOUKI, EVIL, SANADA & SHO)

(Couldn’t have asked for a more exciting opener for tonight. I think there might be some magic in an alliance between Uemura and Umino.)

Narita joined DOUKI in assaulting Desperado that resulted in the latter two brawling outside. YOSHI-HASHI and YOH did the same to SHO; the former’s legs collided with the ring post courtesy of DOUKI and SHO. Chaos erupted, but Umino distinguished it, scoring a comeback with athleticism. SANADA hampered this with a dropkick to Umino and a low blow to Uemura.

EVIL rescued Togo after a failed Dick-to-Dick Contact, only to receive a double-dropkick by Uemura and Umino for his troubles. Uemura snapped Togo in for a hurricanrana, capturing him for a pinfall.

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