Report Details Reasoning Behind Historic IWGP Title Change In NJPW

Fans of New Japan Pro Wrestling were stunned on June 29 when Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hirooki Goto at the Tanahashi Jam event in Nagoya to become the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. The reasons for fans being surprised at the result were that Goto's run as champion had been very well received by those in Japan and internationally, and the fact that the Tanahashi Jam event was airing exclusively in Japan, with no legal way of watching the event for non-Japanese fans.

Despite these two factors, Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Sabre Jr. had been scheduled to win the belt from Goto at this show for some time, citing NJPW wanting to do something big for their TV special as the main reason why Tanahashi Jam was chosen as the event for the title change. Another reason was that the event was taking place at the Dolphins Arena, arguably the second most famous wrestling venue in Japan outside of Tokyo, will be closing its doors permanently in the coming weeks, with the IG Arena set to take its place as the main arena in Nagoya.

The show itself was deemed a success according to Meltzer as over 4,500 paid fans were in attendance, and while it was not a sell-out crowd, it was the largest crowd NJPW had attracted to the Dolphins Arena since the 2019 G1 Climax tournament. However, the night was anything but a success for Goto as he not only lost his championship he worked so hard to win, but he was the first IWGP World Champion in history to lose the title via a referee stoppage. Goto will now be taking an undisclosed amount of time away from the ring due to injuries, which also means he will be missing out on the 2025 G1 Climax tournament.