This was a quarterfinal round match in the 2018 New Japan Cup.
If the match with Naito proved how lethal Zack Sabre’s basic strategy could be in NJPW, then this match exposed a weakness in Zack’s game.
Zack was casually going after Kota’s arm as he has been wont to do. Taking away one of Kota’s arm at such a lackadaisical pace was never going to be a successful idea though. Kota’s offense is so much more based on his legs that he was able to fire back at Zack far quicker than Naito.
That meant, unlike Naito, Kota was not weakened too much and his comebacks were fare more effective at keeping everything competitive. The match was very 50/50 in the second half, and there was no sense that either man had the upper-hand.
Zack managed to pull off the win yet again. This time though, he was really pushed to stay frosty and pull out far more tricks from his sleeves to stay ahead of Kota. (If he had been more aggressive early on, he may not have become so vulnerable.) Eventually, Zack had to trap Kota in a submission and repeatedly strike Kota in the head until Kota was so unresponsive that the referee called it.
This was in fact an improvement in quality over the Naito match. More importantly though, the story of Zack in this tournament was continued very effectively. (***)
Views from the Hawke's Nest 