Zack Sabre Jr needs to eat something and go the gym

[mystikz]

I don't get this dude at all. He looks so damn scrawny.

He was so hyped in the CWC and his matches were just boring. Poor selling. His moves don't look like they hurt at all. He looks like the high schooler that always got beat up not some guy that's going to tap someone out. He just looked like he was phoning it in too.

Then watching him at NJPW feels worse. He isn't believable at all fighting someone like Ishii. He looks like this little nerd that has no chance at all.

Like when the NJPW guys were at In and Out getting burgers they should have made him eat a few.

I'm really glad he didn't sign with WWE as it feels like if Vince saw him he would have laughed. Still in NJPW he feels so out of place. At best maybe he's a heel hiding behind someone bigger but this guy as "tough submission specialist" just makes no sense.

[mcmahonfan85]

Mar 26, 2018 16:05:01 GMT -5 mystikz said:

Like when the NJPW guys were at In and Out getting burgers they should have made him eat a few.

but then he'd be infringing on Cheeseburger's gimmick

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

I actually agree with you on his being scrawny, but...

...yeah he definitely never goes to the gym??

[This Player Hating Mothman]

I wouldn't even mind the look if he had some presence to him. It's kind of a "you need to tick more than one box" for me. If he had some presence or spent his matches not looking like he was mentally figuring out new ways to sort his underwear drawer when he gets home, there would be something there for me to get hold of, but right now he's just not doing it. If anything I think being a scrawny spindle man works for his schtick because it lets him bend and twist around in ways that added bulk would make a bit harder. Just, f***ing emote sometimes.

[Deleted]

He has functional strength. Likely does a lot of body weight exercises

[Deleted]

First time I saw him, he got murderised by KENTA on a NOAH show. It was a stiff squash and he sold stuff like death, looked a genuine babyface star.

Now he doesn't sell and he fits into that huge category of British guys who don't seem to get their gimmick. They just go out and do....stuff. It's not engaging.

[AdamAFL was sooooo wrong]

To each their own - I unashamedly love Sabre - and whilst I disagree with almost every single point made in this thread the one that stood out to me was complaining about Sabre's selling after watching a match where he was in the ring with f***ing Ishii, it just seems ludicrous to me.

[honsou]

ZSJ has the kind of look that the only way he could believably beat someone is by tying them into a pretzel and it works. Hes not going to be more powerful than you but he knows the human body better than any other human being (other than Suzuki) and knows the submissions needed to make something significantly strong than him tap out.

[Ultimo Gallos]

In tag matches I don't mind ZSJ. Not a fan of him in singles matches. I rather watch Timothy Thatcher,Drew Gulak or Biff Busick if I want to see a grapple style wrestler.

[Mozenrath]

I like him. I think the lack of elbow pads and wrist tape makes him look smaller than he is, since we're used to at least something. I am guessing he is going for high mobility, but it makes him look naked.

[KobashiChop]

His whole human boa constrictor thing he has going in NJPW looks pretty cool for me.

In the CWC though I honestly didn't rate him. British wrestling needs to f*** off with small joint manipulation. Outside of Marty Scurll and his epic finger breaks it just comes down to bending your opponents fingers. Big f***ing deal.

[celtics543]

I agree. I tuned into the CWC because I'd heard good things about him and was completely underwhelmed. When pro wrestlers are smaller than I am it takes me out of it. I'm not a big guy by any means and I'm twice as broad as ZSJ.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

I saw ZSJ against Keith Lee. I just couldn't suspend my disbelief that Sabre could kick his ass in any way.

Without using steroids I think this is the biggest ZSJ can get. He unfortunately has the Greg Gagne physique that wrestlecrap described like a walking penis.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Mar 26, 2018 18:58:02 GMT -5 Ultimo Gallos said:

In tag matches I don't mind ZSJ. Not a fan of him in singles matches. I rather watch Timothy Thatcher,Drew Gulak or Biff Busick if I want to see a grapple style wrestler.

Off topic but I'm glad I found another Timothy Thatcher fan here, I never see him getting mentioned. I always liked his no nonsense anti charisma fighting style.

[Heeltown, USA]

I won't lie, when I first saw him I said the same as everyone in this thread already has.

It was his 4 matches in the New Japan Cup that sold me on him.

As someone said, he is supposed to be thin wiry guy who can wrap himself around an opponent. And I welcome his look going against "the norm".

Pro wrestling is fun for me when guys look unique, and I dont mean their hair or the design on their tights.

We need the muscular heavyweight, the flabby hoss, the compact junior heavyweights, the masked guys, etc. to make it feel different.

So yes, there is a place in my suspension of disbelief for a guy like ZSJ.

And the fact that New Japan legitimized him in the Cup speaks volumes. If Gedo and the company see something in him as a draw, I don't understand how if you are a fan of NJPW you don't either.

Different strokes I guess.

[Starshine]

He's a guy I prefer in small doses. I appreciate what he does in the ring, and am impressed with how fluid some of transitions can be. But I just do not care for him in longer matches. I think the main problem was that when I was kind of introduced to him, he was already getting called the 'best wrestler in the world.' But not in a Bryan Danielson semi-ironic way, just as a statement of fact. So I see the guy, he's sort of weird looking, doesn't really have a whole lot of facial expressiveness, his promos are awkward, and his matches come off like a submission version of the "flippy spot monkey." I just don't get it, I can't see what so many others do, and it bothers me. To me the whole package is lacking.

[Heeltown, USA]

Mar 26, 2018 21:15:35 GMT -5 Starshine said:

He's a guy I prefer in small doses. I appreciate what he does in the ring, and am impressed with how fluid some of transitions can be. But I just do not care for him in longer matches.

I actually like him in a long format. To me, him beginning targeted limb work early in a match sets a great narrative. No matter how the match progresses in pace, he'll bring you right back into a hold. Its old school enough to be fresh in today's product.

Maybe its me, but I can watch a match from the 1950's and enjoy them on the mat for extended periods of time before you get a quick pickup of pace, a run of the ropes, a big move and then right back into an armbar.

I do appreciate you said you like him in small doses. I don't want to watch a 4 hour card of his style, but he is unique enough in style right now, that when he is out there it works for me.

And onto a sub note, no pun intended, he wrestles the way I play the AKI or Fire Pro games.

[Allie Kitsune]

ZSJ's "absolute boredom incarnate" doesn't really come off as effective heeling or "Oh, this is just too easy for me" at all. It comes off like he'd rather be off watching paint dry somewhere.

Instead of "everything's boring because I'm so good", it just comes off as "everything's boring because I'm so boring".

[the2ndevil]

I’ve only seen a handful of matches of his, and I thought the good performances he did were the matches that he lost, with the best being against Nakamaura at an Indy that I found on YouTube prior to the CWC.

[Brood Lone Wolf Funker]

He also needs to go home and be a family man