Zack Sabre Jr. on WWE, Travel Schedule, Misuse of Strong Style, More

New Japan Pro Wrestling held a recent interview with Zack Sabre Jr. discussing why he didn’t sign with WWE, his current travel schedule, wrestlers misusing “Strong Style”, and more.

On the topic of why he didn’t sign a deal with the WWE during the Cruiserweight Classic, Sabre stated it was more of a personal choice than anything related to the WWE itself. Felt more comfortable staying in the indies than he would have been in the WWE.

“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.”

On the topic of his current travel schedule, Sabre stated he’s been very busy the past few years to the point of barely having any real time off for rest. While he praised the G1 Climax tournament as the best experience of his career, he also implied the lack of days off compounded his current rest problems.

“When it comes to the G1, you’re talking about probably the highest quality tournament that I’ve been in. But for four or five years now, I’ve not had any time off. There have been some weeks where I’d wrestle in three countries, in that same week! I’ll have three international flights coming up next week, all within four days. So being in Japan for one month has almost been like a rest for me!”

Later in the interview, Sabre was asked a question related to NJPW’s “Strong Style” of wrestling. Sabre stated a lot of foreign based wrestlers tend to misuse the style because they only copy what they see and do not learn the fundamentals of the style.

“New Japan’s origin is based on a real fundamental ‘Action Strong Style.’ A lot of foreign wrestlers try to copy Japanese wrestling, but I think they miss the point. The idea is that obviously ‘pro-wrestling’ is the strongest style. And I feel that foundation has to be in submission wrestling, and a very high level of ‘basic’ wrestling. Obviously now a lot of wrestlers are incredibly skilled athletes, but I think they’re forgetting their fundamental wrestling. Or they have no interest in it. My focus is on making very basic things look good.”

Other topics discussed during the interview included his favorite matches during this year’s G1 Climax, getting to face Ibushi in the G1 after not getting the chance in WWE’s CWC tournament, British wrestlers in NJPW, and reasons leading him to sign a deal with NJPW.