The Times I've Seen Zack Sabre Jr. Wrestle Live!

Zack Sabre Jr has been one of my favorite wrestler for over a decade, when I first saw him in Progress and PWG.  As I do when I find a wrestler that I like I look for more matches watching him hone his craft in NOAH, WXW, and indies.  You can even read my blog post from December 2015 about some of his matches: Random Wrestling: Zack Sabre Jr.

I love Zack's style of wrestling and the most unique submission moves I've ever seen.  It's been a pleasure to watch his career grow over the years and although he has captured numerous championships, and I have to admit I did get emotional watching him win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

In this blog we will look at the matches I have seen him compete in live and in living color!!  

January 30, 2016

Limitless Wrestling American Legion Hall         Orono, ME

Zack Sabre Jr. pinned Chris Hero in 24 minutes 10 seconds

I still can't believe this one happened! In the weeks leading to the show Zack Sabre Jr. was announced first. I couldn't believe it, quite frankly that he was coming to an indie show Maine. We've had names in Maine on indies in the past, but before Limitless it wasn't a regular thing. If having Sabre on the show wasn't exciting enough, a couple weeks prior Chris Hero was announced. Randy stated it really was last minute how it all came together.

Then we got the graphic that they were facing off against each other and I just couldn't believe it! We are getting on of the hottest matches in the world, in the middle of small town Maine at an American Legion hall on, what turned out to be, a stormy January night.

At that time they were in the middle of what would turn into an tremendous run of matches in an 18 month period. From June 2015 to January 2017 they faced off in 9 matches singles matches (okay 1 was an elimination triple threat) in Evolve, PWG, WXW, & AAW and every single time they tore it up going hard for 20 plus minutes every time.

At that time I was used to "headliners" coming into Maine and just "getting their shit in" and I had accepted that because that was independent wrestling in Maine. On this night ZSJ & Chris Hero set a standard in Limitless Wrestling that has kept going to today. They gave it their all and put on a caliber of a match that was equal to or even greater than they had done or would do anywhere in the world. After the show I got a photo with both of them, it still ranks as one of the greatest matches that I have ever seen live! You can read my post about this show here: Limitless Wrestling: Under Fire

He signed this card for me at the show, I ordered this card from the UK at the beginning of the month after I learned that he was booked to appear. Released in 2014 by Resurrection Magazine, I feel positive that this is Sabre's rookie card.  Sabre was impressed that I had the card and I told him I ordered it from the UK when he asked where I got it.  He signed it for free because he said I already paid for the card.

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April 4, 2019

WrestleCon Supershow Hilton Grand Ballroom Manhattan, NY

Zack Sabre Jr. submitted Shane Strickland

In 2019 my buddies Jay, Mikey, & I traveled to New York City for WrestleMania weekend. We didn't attend any of the WWE events instead hit all of the independent wrestling that we could. This show was match 1 of 3 that I saw Zack compete this weekend. If you would have told me that April evening that we were seeing two future World Champions squaring off I would not have believed you.

To me the match was just okay, I felt their styles just didn't mesh well. To be frank I thought Zack outclassed Swerve that night. You can read about this show here: Indie Mania 2019 Part 1

I got these cards signed on Thursday April 4th before the Wrestlecon Supershow.  The first card is from the 2016 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set and the second from the 2017 PWG Battle of Los Angeles set.  I have a rule about not getting the backs of the cards signed but we were talking about his trip to Limitless Wrestling and he signed them quickly.  I wasn't going to ask him to sign them again, although I just might if I meet him again. 

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April 5, 2019

Revolution Pro Wrestling Hilton Grand Ballroom Manhattan, NY

British Tag Team Champions: Suzuki-Gun: Minoru Suzuki & British Heavyweight

Champion: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay when Sabre pinned Ospreay

What a match!! We had front row for this amazing UK based REVPro show. Look at the 4 competitors in this match! ZSJ, Suzuki, Ospreay, & Tanahashi!! WILD! This match went almost 22 minutes and they laid everything in, stiff strikes, great submission wrestling, practically flawless story telling. Truly amazing match worth the price of the ticket for this match alone on the show. It was the best match of the weekend for me, and considering the number of high quality matches that we took in, that is saying something!

You can read about this show here: Indie Mania 2019 Part 2

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April 6, 2019

New Japan Pro Wrestling / ROH Madison Square Garden         Manhattan, NY

G1 Supercard

British Heavyweight Champion: Zack Sabre Jr with Taka Michinoku defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi by submission

The last show of the weekend for us was also our biggest event of the weekend. For the first time in nearly 60 years a wrestling show happened at Madison Square Garden that was not promoted by a McMahon / WWE saw New Japan and ROH team together for the G1 Supercard. The show was Sold Out and stacked with amazing wrestlers. The ROH portion of the show, for the most part, fell VERY flat for me. The New Japan portion was tremendous.

The 7th match of the Main card saw the RevPRO British Championship successfully defended by Sabre submitting Tanahashi. Thinking back New Japan has a working agreement with RevPRO for years and it's very cool that RevPRO was presented as this historic wrestling card at MSG.

I was in the balcony and couldn't get any great photos, but here is one of the Great Muta and Jushin Thunder Liger in the ring that I took.

You can read about this show here: Indie Mania 2019 Part 3

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April 16, 2023

NJPW: New Japan Pro Wrestling 2300 Arena                 Philadelphia, PA

Collision in Philadelphia

Team Filthy: Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs, & Jorel Nelson defeated TMDK: NJPW Television

Champion: Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Haste, & Bad Boy Tito

Much like MSG, the former ECW Arena, now called the 2300 Arena, is a venue that I had to see wrestling at live. I was the prime demographic for ECW and would have LOVED to go to one of their shows, but it was not to be.

I had mentioned to my buddy Mikey that when my wife and Wesley take their annual April Vacation trip to Ocean City, Maryland if there was a big show in the northeast we should go. As luck would have it, NJPW announced Collision in Philadelphia during that weekend!

We were supposed to have front row at this show, however they moved our seats back and put the announcers and commentators directly in front of us on the fan side of the guard rail. It was cool to have NJPW ring announcer Takuro Shibata right there to get this video, but we paid a lot of money for front row and traveling to the ECW Arena for the first time, it was frustrating to not have the front row seats we paid for. When we selected our seats they did not have the announcers list as being here.

Zack competed in a six man tag team match falling short to Team Filthy. It was very cool to see him at the NJPW Television Champion and of course to see him tie his opponents up with his signature style.

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November 8, 2024

NJPW: New Japan Pro Wrestling    Memorial Auditorium                            Lowell, MA

Fighting Spirit Unleashed

Shota Umino & Tomohiro Ishii defeated TMDK: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion: Zack Sabre & Boy Dude Tito when Umino pinned Tito

When this show was announced I wanted more than anything for Sabre to defeated Naito for the World Title and come to Lowell to defend the Championship. Well, most of that came true, he won the title and came to Lowell as Champion, and a few days before the show was announced to be in a tag team match. Slightly disappointing, but I got to see Sabre has champion so it's all good.

I was very excited when they announced a Meet and Greet with Sabre, I had met him before at Limitless and at WrestleCon 2019 but I had to get a photo with him as the Champion.

The meet and greet was awesome, Sabre took his time with to talk to everyone, no one was rushed it was very nice experience. We chatted about him winning the title, his time in Maine with Limitless, which perked right up for talking how much he loved the experience and he remembered very specific details. Then we chatted about the ridiculous cost of tickets.

The show was extremely good, our first time sitting in the balcony here and I would again in a heartbeat! The view was phenomenal the matches were excellent and the crowd was very vocal!

Sabre's match was excellent, it was awesome to see him walk out and be announced as champion. They furthered a lot of stories tonight including the build between Sabre & Umino for WrestleKingdom.

I can't imagine this will be the last time I see Sabre wrestle live, but I guess you never, never, know.

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, check out my other posts, and if you want like my blogs Facebook page.  You can also head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of my book the 2024 Limitless Wrestling Almanac, or any of my other books.

Until next time!

Wrestled In All 50 States: Matt Cardona

Image from Matt Cardona X profile

I was watching GCW HawaiiMania and Dave Prazak was talking about how it was GCW's Hawaii debut and at some point he or Veda Scott commented that this was the Hawaii debut for most of the wrestlers on the card and that after tonight Matt Cardona had now wrestled in all 50 States.

I remember back in 2021 GCW ran Wyoming specifically because Ricky Morton had not wrestled there before and I thought it was so that he would have wrestled in every State.  I started looking into it and I can't find a record of him wrestling in Alaska.

While watching GCW I took to Cage Match to find Matt Cardona's debut match in every state and compiled them in this blog post.  I can't guarantee 100% accuracy but I feel it must be pretty accurate as most of these matches were in the WWE.

UPDATED: 11/10/2024 - Added Washington D.C. debut

First State: New York 08/11/2004 for NYWC

Last State: Hawaii 11/02/2024 for GCW

2004: 1 state

2005: 1 state

2006: 1 state

2007: 19 states

2008: 12 states

2009: 2 states

2010: 6 states & Puerto Rico

2011: 2 states

2014: 1 state

2015: 3 states

2021: 1 state

2024 1 state

Alabama

05/01/2007 The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) defeat Marcus Cor Von & Matt Striker (3:42)

ECW on Sci Fi #47 - TV-Show at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham

Alaska

08/26/2021 Jay Lethal & The Blue World Order (Hollywood Nova & The Blue Meanie) defeat Brian Myers, Matt Cardona & VSK

WrestlePro Alaska The Great Alaskan Bash Anchorage - Event at the O'Malley Centre in Anchorage

Arizona

02/26/2008 The Undertaker defeats Zack Ryder

WWE Friday Night SmackDown #445 - TV-Show at the Tucson Convention Center in Tucson

Arkansas

08/30/2008 WWE Tag Team Title: Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder (c) defeat Festus & Jesse

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the Arkansas State University Convocation Center in Jonesboro

California

11/06/2007 WWE Tag Team Title: Matt Hardy & Montel Vontavious Porter (c) defeat The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) (2:45)

WWE Friday Night SmackDown #429 - TV-Show at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield

Colorado

05/27/2008 Batista & The Big Show defeat Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder (3:20)

WWE Friday Night SmackDown #458 - TV-Show at the World Arena in Colorado Springs

Connecticut

08/14/2007 Deuce & Domino defeat The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) (5:38)

WWE Friday Night SmackDown #417 - TV-Show at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville

Delaware

06/22/2014  Bo Dallas defeats Zack Ryder

WWE Live - House Show at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark

Florida

06/05/2007 Elijah Burke & Marcus Cor Von defeat The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) (6:50)

ECW on Sci Fi #52 - TV-Show at the Amway Arena in Orlando

Georgia

04/06/2006 Eric Perez & Montel Vontavious Porter defeat The Majors Brothers (Brett Majors & Brian Majors) (3:56)

DSW TV #10 - TV-Show at the Deep South Arena in McDonough

Hawaii

11/02/2024 Aleki Afi pinned Matt Cardona

GCW HawaiiMania at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu 

Idaho

03/07/2010 Chris Masters defeats Zack Ryder

WWE RAW House Show - House Show at the Taco Bell Arena in Boise

Illinois

09/24/2007 The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) defeat Dave Taylor & Paul Burchill

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield

Indiana

03/18/2007 Dark: The Major Brothers (Brett Majors & Brian Majors) defeat Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch

WWE Heat #458 - Dark Match at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis

Iowa

05/22/2007 Matt Striker defeats Brett Major (3:41)

ECW on Sci Fi #50 - TV-Show at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines

Kansas

10/04/2010 WWE Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership 20 Man Battle Royal: Wade Barrett defeats Darren Young and David Hart Smith and David Otunga and Evan Bourne and Heath Slater and John Cena and John Morrison and Justin Gabriel and Mark Henry and Primo and R-Truth and Santino Marella and Sheamus and Ted DiBiase and The Miz and Tyson Kidd and Vladimir Kozlov and William Regal and Zack Ryder (19:36)

WWE Monday Night RAW #906 - TV-Show at the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita

Kentucky

05/09/2007 The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) defeat Los Locos (Ramon & Raul)

OVW TV #405 - TV-Show at the Davis Arena in Louisville

Louisiana

03/16/2008 Festus & Jesse defeat Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the CenturyLink Center in Bossier City

Maine

08/11/2007 WWE Tag Team Title: Deuce & Domino (c) defeat The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major)

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the Bangor Auditorium

I was at this show! At that time when WWE came to Maine they would run Bangor one night and Portland the next night. I typically went to Portland because it was closer to my home, however on this night my buddy Rood and I went to Bangor because we had never been to the Bangor Auditorium for a WWE show. Also, for some reason the tickets were cheaper in Bangor than Portland.

The Bangor Auditorium opened October 1, 1955 was closed in 2013 when the larger and state of the art Cross Insurance Center opened.

Maryland

07/28/2009 Christian defeats Zack Ryder (15:28)

ECW on Syfy #164 - TV-Show at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore

Massachusetts

07/19/2008 WWE Tag Team Title Fatal Four Way: John Morrison & The Miz (c) defeat Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder and Finlay & Hornswoggle and Festus & Jesse

WWE House Show - House Show at the MassMutual Center in Springfield

Michigan

03/27/2007 Dark: The Majors Brothers (Brett Majors & Brian Majors) defeat Deuce & Domino

WWE Friday Night SmackDown #397 - Dark Match at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids

Minnesota

01/10/2010 Goldust, Vladimir Kozlov & Yoshi Tatsu defeat Tyler Reks, William Regal & Zack Ryder

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center in Duluth

Mississippi

07/07/2007 The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) defeat Dave Taylor & Paul Burchill

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the BancorpSouth Arena in Tupelo

Missouri

09/22/2007 The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) defeat Dave Taylor & Harry Smith

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the Civic Center in St. Joseph, Missouri

Montana

10/31/2015 Curtis Axel, Damien Sandow & Zack Ryder defeat Fandango & The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor)

WWE Live - House Show at the MetraPark in Billings

Nebraska

07/17/2010 Santino Marella defeats Zack Ryder

WWE House Show - House Show at the Qwest Center in Omaha

Nevada

10/14/2008 WWE Tag Team Title: Carlito & Primo (c) defeat Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder (3:44)

WWE Friday Night SmackDown #478 - TV-Show at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas

New Hampshire

08/04/2007 WWE Tag Team Title: Deuce & Domino (c) defeat The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major)

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester

New Jersey

06/17/2005  The Outcast Killaz (Diablo Santiago & Oman Tortuga) defeat Brett Matthews & Brian Myers

JAPW World Wide Internet TV Taping - Event at the AWA Wrestling School in Union City

New Mexico

09/23/2011 Zack Ryder defeats Primo

WWE RAW House Show - House Show at the The Pit in Albuquerque

New York

08/11/2004 Baxter Cross, Brett Matthews & Brian Myers defeat Calero, Dan Barry & Javi-Air

NYWC - Event at the Long Beach

North Carolina

06/19/2007 Dark: The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) defeat Deuce & Domino (4:44)

WWE Friday Night SmackDown #409 - Dark Match at the Bobcats Arena in Charlotte

North Dakota

01/09/2010 Goldust, Vladimir Kozlov & Yoshi Tatsu defeat Tyler Reks, William Regal & Zack Ryder

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the Fargo Dome in Fargo

Ohio

03/24/2007 The Majors Brothers (Brett Majors & Brian Majors) defeat The World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin)

WWE RAW House Show - House Show at the Memorial Civic Center in Canton

Oklahoma

07/01/2008 Festus & Jesse defeat Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder (3:45)

WWE Friday Night SmackDown #463 - TV-Show at the Tulsa Convention Center in Tulsa

Oregon

08/11/2015 Dark: Zack Ryder defeats Joshua Kingsley

WWE Thursday Night SmackDown #834 - Dark Match at the Moda Center in Portland

Pennsylvania

01/29/2008 Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder defeat Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore (6:25)

WWE Friday Night SmackDown #441 - TV-Show at the Sovereign Center in Reading

Rhode Island

11/03/2009 Shelton Benjamin defeats Zack Ryder (3:44)

ECW on Syfy #178 - TV-Show at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence

South Carolina

12/02/2007 John Morrison & The Miz defeat The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) (5:00)

ECW on Sci Fi #78 - TV-Show at the Civic Center in Florence

South Dakota

05/29/2011 Percy Watson defeats Zack Ryder

WWE RAW House Show - House Show at the Sioux Falls Arena in Sioux Falls

Tennessee

08/02/2008 WWE Tag Team Title: Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder (c) defeat Festus & Jesse

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City

Texas

06/23/2007 The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major) defeat Chris Masters & Kenny Dykstra

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the Ford Arena in Beaumont

Utah

03/06/2010 Chris Masters defeats Zack Ryder

WWE RAW House Show - House Show at the E Center in Salt Lake City

Vermont

08/05/2007 WWE Tag Team Title: Deuce & Domino (c) defeat The Major Brothers (Brett Major & Brian Major)

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the Memorial Auditorium in Burlington

Virginia

12/30/2007 Two On One Handicap: Batista vs. Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder - Time Limit Draw (6:02)

WWE Friday Night SmackDown #437 - TV-Show at the Richmond

Washington

10/07/2008 Carlito, Festus, Jesse & Primo defeat Curt Hawkins, Kenny Dykstra, Ryan Braddock & Zack Ryder (3:16)

WWE Friday Night SmackDown #477 - TV-Show at the Spokane Arena in Spokane

Washington D.C.

09/06/2010 Evan Bourne defeats Zack Ryder

WWE Monday Night RAW #902 - Dark Match at the Verizon Center

West Virginia

05/10/2008 Finlay & Jamie Noble defeat Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder

WWE RAW House Show - House Show at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington

Wisconsin

03/08/2008 Festus & Jesse defeat Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder

WWE SmackDown/ECW House Show - House Show at the Kolf Sports Center in Oshkosh

Wyoming

11/01/2015 Curtis Axel, Damien Sandow & Zack Ryder defeat Heath Slater & The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor)

WWE Live - House Show at the Casper Events Center in Casper

Puerto Rico

09/02/2010 Primo defeats Zack Ryder

WWE RAW House Show - House Show at the Coliseo Manuel in Arecibo

This topic may become a regular feature on this blog, not sure but this one was fun to do.

Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, check out my other posts, and if you want like my blogs Facebook page.  You can also head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of my book the 2024 Limitless Wrestling Almanac, or any of my other books.

Until next time!