Zack Sabre Jr. & Ren Narita Face-Off At Press Conference And Exchange Last Words Before Their IWGP World Heavyweight Title Bout

By: Lewis Carlan

We are less than 24 hours away from New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s DESTRUCTION IN KOBE event at the Kobe World Memorial Hall.

The main event of DESTRUCTION in KOBE will see the current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. make his second defense of his second reign as champion against HOUSE OF TORTURE’s Ren Narita.

Narita defeated Sabre. Jr on July 19th in a G1 Climax 35 tournament match which earned him this world title opportunity. Narita also defeated Sabre Jr in a New Japan Cup 2024 second round match back in March 2024.

The two superstars came face to face on Sept. 27th at a press conference in Kobe and exchanged final words ahead of their IWGP World Heavyweight Title match.

Narita opened with harsh words aimed at Sabre Jr.

From Ren Narita:

“This stinking foreign champion, whatever he says doesn’t matter. Tomorrow I’m taking that title, and that’s it.”

Photo Credit: NJPW

Sabre Jr. shot back at Narita and quickly pointed out his lack of accomplishments as a wrestler.

From Zack Sabre Jr.:

 “Where’s your Push Up Bar? Did you paint it black? When your wrestling career fails, maybe you’ll have a future as an artist.” Ren has two important victories over me, but the question is does he want to be a champion, or a third rate member of HOUSE OF TORTURE? You’ve been in there for two years and done nothing, while I’ve been in TMDK, main evented the Tokyo Dome twice, been G1 and World Heavyweight Champion.” The only thing worse than watching HOUSE OF TORTURE matches is having to actually wrestle in them.”

Photo Credit: NJPW

Narita kept his comments brief during the press conference. When asked about the potential challenge of G1 Climax 35 winner KONOSUKE TAKESHITA, who will face the winner, Narita said he won’t wrestle TAKESHITA but will put the title on the line against EVIL instead should he win the title from Sabre Jr.

From Ren Narita:

 “I won’t take that challenge. I’ll face the true winner of the G1 in Ryogoku. That’s EVIL. That’s decided, morons.”

Sabre Jr. indicated that he will be watching the rest of HOUSE OF TORTURE during the match as they are notorious for outside interference.

From Zack Sabre Jr;

 “I’ve got superior eyesight from eating plenty of carrots, so I’ll keep my eyes sharp on the rest of HOUSE OF TORTURE.”

Here is the full line-up of matches for NJPW DESTRUCTION IN KOBE on Sept. 28th courtesy of purolove.com:

• Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura & YOSHI-HASHI vs. “King of Darkness” EVIL, SANADA & Dick Togo
• Hiroshi Tanahashi Final Road ~ Enishi: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan
• NEVER Openweight Title: Oleg Boltin (c) vs. Don Fale
• IWGP Tag Team Title: Tomohiro Ishii & Taichi (c) vs. Yuto-Ice & OSKAR
• GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. Taiji Ishimori
• Special Singles Match: Yota Tsuji vs. David Finlay
• IWGP Global Heavyweight Title: Gabe Kidd (c) vs. Shingo Takagi
• IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Ren Narita

DESTRUCTION IN KOBE will air live on NJPW World subscription streaming service.