NJPW Royal Quest: Hiroshi Tanahashi wins British Heavyweight Championship

In a shocking upset, Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Zack Sabre Jr to become the new British Heavyweight Champion at NJPW Royal Quest.

Back in April, Zack Sabre Jr successfully defended the British Heavyweight Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi at NJPW G1 Supercard. He subsequently put the “Ace” on the shelf for two months with a shoulder injury. Tanahashi returned to compete in the G1 Climax 29 and avenge his loss.

The “Ace” defeated Sabre on the fifth night of the tournament and picked up a consecutive win in an eight-man tag match. Afterward, the champion challenged Tanahashi to a title match in his home country at NJPW Royal Quest.

Sabre had the right to be confident. After all, he did pick up two high-profile wins over him including an upset in route to become the winner of the 2018 New Japan Cup.

In a hard-fought match, the two traded holds and reversed each other’s signature moves. Tanahashi locked in a Texas cloverleaf.  Sabre responded with a roll-up and followed it up with an octopus stretch. However, the challenger managed to make it to the ropes to force him to break the hold.

Later, Tanahashi went for a High Fly Flow, but Sabre got his knees up. Then, he cinched in a triangle choke and he transitions in into Rings of Saturn. Tanahashi fought out of it and exchanged strikes with the champion.

Sabre surprisingly kicked out of a dragon suplex to survive. Nevertheless, Tanahashi eventually hit him with a High Fly Flow to win via pinfall, handing the champion an embarrassing loss in his home country. This is Ace of New Japan finally got his revenge and left Royal Quest as the British Heavyweight Champion for the first time in his career.

Tanahashi follows in the footsteps of other New Japan stars who have won the Rev Pro title like AJ Styles, Katsuyori Shibata, and Tomohiro Ishii.