Zack Sabre Jr. Retains IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Destruction in Kobe

By: Noah Leatherland

The NJPW calendar continues to tick closer to January 4th, with Destruction in Kobe the latest stop on the road to Wrestle Kingdom. The company’s grandest prize was on the line, with Zack Sabre Jr. defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Ren Narita. The technical Brit walked into the show with the gold, and managed to leave with it still around his waist.

The main event marked Ren Narita’s second time targeting the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, having last challenged Jon Moxley in May of last year. Sabre Jr. walked into the show looking to make his second successful defence of this reign, having bested Nigel McGuinness at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in August. In the lead up to this bout, Sabre Jr. had not hidden his disdain for coming up against the House of Torture.

Sabre Jr. managed to close the door on the House of Torture, defeating Narita just under the 30 minute mark of the match. With Narita in the rear-view mirror, Zack Sabre Jr. is now on course to defend the title against G1 Climax winner, Konosuke Takeshita, at NJPW King of Pro Wrestling.

Other titles were on the line at Kobe as well. On the undercard, Oleg Boltin managed to retain the NEVER Openweight Title by knocking down the giant Don Fale. Boltin was soon attacked by EVIL, who declared himself the next challenger. The IWGP Tag Team Titles changed hands, with The Knockout Brothers, OSKAR and Yuto-Ice defeating Tomohiro Ishii and Taichi. Afterwards, they were confronted by the duo of Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura.

Hiromu Takahashi made his first defence of the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship, besting Taiji Ishimori. Following the bout, Takahashi was attacked by Eita of Pro Wrestling NOAH, looking to bring the GHC title home. Gabe Kidd retained the IWGP Global Title, defeating Shingo Takagi. He was also confronted by a future challenger in the form of Yota Tsuji, who beat David Finlay one match prior.

Here are the full results of NJPW Destruction in Kobe, courtesy of purolove:

• El Desperado, Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura, YOSHI-HASHI & YOH def. EVIL, SHO, SANADA, DOUKI & Dick Togo (7:36)
• Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Great-O-Khan (7:45)
• NEVER Openweight Title: Oleg Boltin (c) def. Don Fale (5:55)
• IWGP Tag Team Title: OSKAR & Yuto-Ice def. Tomohiro Ishii & Taichi (c) (13:30)
• GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi (c) def. Taiji Ishimori (11:30)
• Yota Tsuji def. David Finlay (14:35)
• IWGP Global Heavyweight Title: Gabe Kidd (c) def. Shingo Takagi (21:37)
• IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) def. Ren Narita (29:24)