Royal Quest IV (October 20) Full card, Preview
Main event: Zack Sabre Jr. vs SANADA
Singles record: 4–3–1 Sabre
It’s come home!
With a win over Tetsuya Naito this week at King of Pro-Wrestling 2024, Zack Sabre Jr. lifted the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, and as promised, will be taking his title to Crystal Palace. The accomplishment, on top of becoming the first ever British wrestler to win the G1 Climax earlier this summer, has seen ZSJ celebrate 20 years in professional wrestling on a career high hot streak.
His first defence of the world title will come against SANADA. A career rival of Sabre’s in NJPW, the Just Five Guys member always seems to bring the best out of Zack- and vice versa. The match came about when SANADA pinned Zack in Sendai during the Road to Destruction in September, and after being beaten in his home town of Nagaoka, a challenger motivated by revenge could see Sabre’s reign cut brutally short.
A rocky 2024 for SANADA saw him eliminated from the New Japan Cup and G1 Climax, and short of the IWGP Global Championship in June. Perhaps the peak of his frustration came in front of his home prefecture crowd this August. Still in with a chance of making the G1 playoffs, he wrestled an incredible bout with Zack Sabre Jr., but one that ended in defeat.
Bouncing back though, SANADA was able to land his Deadfall finish on ZSJ in Sendai, and declared that he would ‘return the favour, d*ckhead’ by defeating Sabre on Zack’s home turf. Since the establishment of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship as the top prize in pro-wrestling in 2021, SANADA has held the title for its longest reign. Will the challenger ensure Sabre’s is the shortest?
8th Match: NJPW STRONG Tag Team Championships- TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) vs Tomohiro Ishii & Hiroshi Tanahashi
From staples of the burgeoning Australian scene in the early to mid 2000s, Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls went on to dominate the tag scene in Pro-Wrestling NOAH, becoming one of only two non Japanese teams in history to win Tokyo Sports’ prestigious tag team of the year award. With more accolades collected around the world, debate was that Haste and Nicholls could be the best tag team in history never to have been IWGP Tag Team Champions.
Yet that changed in June at Dominion, where they picked up not just the IWGP tag gold but also NJPW STRONG Tag team Championships for the second time. Haste and Nicholls defended the STRONG belts in Washington DC at the end of August, on a night when new number one contenders were also named. Now this combination of madness and hysteria has to tackle two of the toughest and most respected competitors of a generation in Tomohiro Ishii and Hiroshi Tanahashi.
The track records of the challengers speak for themselves; now past 25 years as an active wrestler, Tanahashi has carried NJPW on his back both in the ring and now in the office as President. While he and Tomohiro Ishii haven’t always gotten along, they did hold the NEVER Openweight 6 man Tag Team Championships for the bulk of 2023. Could Royal Quest in 2024 see them hold championship gold as a duo, as the clock begins to tick on the final chapter of Tanahashi’s career?
7th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & Titan) vs TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa & Robbie Eagles) & Mascara Dorada
Tetsuya Naito has been a part of every Royal Quest to date, and has been victorious every time, but fond memories of London will be tempered in 2024. Heading into his first event since losing the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, Naito is forced to reset in Crystal palace, and to plot a path toward the Tokyo Dome.
Hiromu Takahashi had suffered similar disappointment in falling short of the NEVER Openweight title in September, before recovering with a statement win over Mistico at King of Pro-Wrestling. Still, the path for Los Ingobernables De Japon this autumn seems to stand in stark contrast to that of TMDK. Gold already sits around the waists of three of its members; with the stunning return of Ryohei Oiwa from a Pro-Wrestling NOAH loan and the persistent threat of Robbie Eagles to the junior division, more may not be far behind.
Then there’s the Mexican contingent to this matchup. The ever spectacular Mascara Dorada, who NJPW fans last saw as part of the Fantasticamania tour this year, will side with TMDK for one night only to clash with Titan. El Inmortal defeated Dorada to win CMLL’s Copa Independencia tournament in September, and Dorada wants revenge- who will deliver the loudest statement in London?
6th Match: David Finlay vs TAKA Michinoku
IWGP Global heavyweight Champion David Finlay has quietly enjoyed a banner year of 2024, and as the winter draws in, both the Rebel and his BULLET CLUB War Dogs are only getting stronger. After becoming the first IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion in the Tokyo Dome January 4, Finlay went on to violently drive Will Ospreay out of the cerulean blue within the confines of a brutal Dog Pound Cage Match. Riding the momentum from a second championship victory in May, Finlay topped his block in G1 Climax 34 and went on to the final four.
The autumn has already seen him defend the white belt against YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto, but the Global gold is one that could also be at home within Just Five Guys. Even as Yuya Uemura recovers from injury, Taichi has stepped up to challenge the Rebel at Power Struggle. With SANADA challenging for the World title in our main event tonight, one could see the Global championship around the waist of the Holy Emperor to make an imposing pair. Or could it be a scrappy veteran with the title? Though TAKA Michinoku is an extreme outside pick in this one, his veteran wiles could see the Rebel upset- and a new contender born in the process.
5th Match: Shota Umino vs Callum Newman
Singles record: 1–1
After his 2019 excursion to the UK, Shota Umino returned to NJPW in 2022 with a renewed sense of purpose and experience. One of his most high-profile moments in England came on October 1st 2022 at Royal Quest II, where he faced Will Ospreay in a non-title match. Despite a valiant effort, Umino fell short of a rival he is still yet to overcome.
The Roughneck nevertheless forged his own path since, with impressive wins during the G1 alone over Zack Sabre Jr., Shingo Takagi, and Great-O-Khan, earning him the attention of fans and fellow wrestlers alike, but his campaign was not a smooth one. Rather, a mixed record started with a loss against his opponent tonight, and Ospreay’s protégé, Callum Newman.
Callum was scouted by Will Ospreay to join United Empire in 2023, and quickly made a name for himself in NJPW, becoming the youngest G1 entrant in a decade. Against expectations, Newman indeed scored a victory in his first ever G1 match, over Umino himself. That evened the score with Shota, who had defeated Newman during his UK excursion. Now with their rubber match set for Royal Quest IV, who will emerge victorious once and for all?
4th Match: Yota Tsuji vs Drilla Moloney
Singles record: 2–0 Moloney
One half of a dominant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, it may be easy to think of Moloney purely as a tag team specialist. Yet with the most lethal move in professional wrestling in the Drilla Killa at his disposal, Moloney has not only defeated the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI during Best of the Super Jr., but also IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito in singles action in the same calendar year- Jake Lee interference in the latter bout notwithstanding.
While Tsuji has justified hype at his back thanks to his New Japan Cup victory and G1 Climax final appearance, Moloney is perhaps correct in thinking a lot more hype should be at his own back, and victory over Tsuji would earn just that. Yet with Tsuji looking to end his own year on a high and blaze a trail to the Tokyo Dome January 4 & 5, will he avenge Naito’s loss from the spring, as well as two defeats to the Drilla during his UK excursion?
3rd Match: Kosei Fujita vs Michael Oku
Despite Kosei Fujita’s young age, his growing expertise in both technical and aerial wrestling thanks to education within TMDK means Fujita’s future looks bright. At Royal Quest he has an imposing task ahead of him- former Undisputed RevPro British heavyweight Champion Michael Oku.
The London native is wrestling his first NJPW singles match at Royal Quest, but has more than a few victories over notable New Japan names, including Will Ospreay and Great-O-Khan. He’s no stranger to success at Royal Quest either; Oku was also victorious at last year’s Royal Quest III, teaming up with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Eddie Kingston to defeat United Empire members TJP, Henare, and Jeff Cobb. Oku’s mix of agility, technical prowess, and heart has earned him a reputation as one of the UK’s top stars.
Off the back of his 412 day reign as British champion, Oku seeks to get back on the winning track, but will he do it at Fujita’s expense?
2nd Match: Mina Shirakawa & Kanji vs AZM & Dani Luna
The stars of STARDOM are also part of Royal Quest as Neo Genesis’ AZM and current RevPro Women’s Champion Mina Shirakawa of E Nexus V are in tag team competition. The prior night will see RevPro’s Global Wars in Doncaster, where AZM will take on RevPro’s Kanji in singles action. Should Shirakawa come to Crystal Palace still in possession of her Women’s title, she’ll face the woman she won the gold from back in the summer in Dani Luna.
Both Shirakawa and AZM have broken into the global consciousness in 2024, with AZM challenging for NJPW STRONG gold in Chicago this spring, and ‘we want Mina’ becoming a rallying cry for fans around the globe. That makes them bold and tempting targets for Kanji and Luna as well, in what is sure to be a hotly competitive tag bout.
1st Match: Taiji Ishimori & X vs CPF (Joe Lando & Danny Black)
There’s been a lot of talk of mystery partners of late, thanks to the long anticipated reveal of Ryohei Oiwa as the latest member of TMDK at Destruction in Kobe. Now, as Super Junior Tag League is right around the corner, Taiji Ishimori has promised that Royal Quest will see his partner revealed for the tournament, which kicks off in Japan next week. Who will join the BULLET CLUB ranks in London, and will the young British team of Joe Lando and Danny Black be able to make a mark of their own?
Kickoff Match: Young Blood (Yuto Nakashima & Oskar Leube) vs Greedy Sould (Brendan White & Danny Jones)
A special kick off before the main card will give us a chance to see the excursion progress of Young Blood. Oskar Leube and Yuto Nakashima graduated from Young Lion status on January 5 at New Year Dash, and went on to their excursion in Europe. Though Nakashima suffered an injury setback, this young, fiery and extremely imposing tag team are back on the warpath, and eager to mix things up with the Greedy Souls tonight.
