MOTW 57: Zack Sabre Jr vs Tetsuya Naito

“M.O.T.W. #57: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tetsuya Naito” - ink & digital illustration

So this week I finally got around to this bloody delightful IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match from a few weeks back. October 14th, 2024, at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s King of Pro Wrestling 2024 event, at the famed Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall.

There’s a lot to love here! Off the top, this was a very special moment in ZSJ finally winning the big one. Zack has long been a tremendous Professional Wrestler & one of my all time favourites to watch. So this was very gratifying to finally see after he’s been so close on prior occasions. It’s been quite a turbulent year for New Japan, so this felt like an excellent course correction & a proper great moment for maybe the best in the world today.

After some recent struggles with various injuries, it was also so darned good to see Naito back in top form here. Now I’m very much the opposite of a lot of folks who think Naito’s washed. I find him to be such an interesting wrestler, constantly evolving in new & interesting ways. This match really highlighted that with a renewed focus on Submission Wrestling & even pushing Zack to the point of requiring a rope break! I also absolutely loved his killer Northern Lights Bomb/Hokuto Driver!

Just an absolutely great match that continues the build of my faith in New Japan going forward.

Artists’ Note: I returned to the ol’ ink nib dip pen for this one & I was quite pleased with the more organic, loose, slightly chaotic feel that these ones have. I still love the feel of the ballpoint pen ones but it feels fun to change it up sometimes.

ENJOY!

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