Our first review of the year takes us to the unlikeliest of places… Worthing, in West Sussex, for a match between Zack Sabre Jr. and Jordon Breaks.
We’re live via an unlisted YouTube link from the Charmandean Centre in Worthing – for the uninitiated, Premier Promotions have been running since 1987, with the promotion flying somewhat under the radar. How far under the radar? Well, asides from the show this match was on, the last show listed on Cagematch was from 2016, featuring the future HENARE, and before that, cards from 2015 featuring Marius al-Ani, and one from 2013 with an on-excursion Hiromu Takahashi.
Oh, and virtually everything on Premier’s cards are held under the old British rounds rules.
Jordon Breaks vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Breaks is a favourite around these parts… there’s perhaps a few more in here today because of this match, with some high-profile faces. Zack Sabre Jr.’s announced as the entrant “from Japan,” which tells me I’m not quite 100% on my politics on the Isle of Sheppey…
We’re looking at eight, 5-minute rounds, by the way, with Breaks’ Premier Wrestling Federation title not on the line.
Round 1: Breaks is quickly in the ropes as Sabre grabbed a waistlock, before he blocked a takedown attempt. The search for a wristlock sees Sabre just roll away from Breaks, before another rope break continued to see Sabre frustrate things. Finally, Sabre finds a way through with a wristlock, powering Breaks to the mat, only for Jordon to recover and trap Sabre in a strait-jacket choke. The hold’s reversed back-and-forth, with Sabre pushing Breaks away via a boot to the arse…
From the restart, Sabre works an ankle hold on Breaks, only for Jordon to counter with some body scissors. True to form, Sabre counters that counter, rolling back on Breaks for a one-count, as we go back-and-forth on pinning attempts with a ref that’s counting from his feet. Sabre manages to break free from the predicament, before he caught Breaks in a neck twist… which Jordon manages to slip out of as an ankle hold from Breaks took us to the end of the round.
Round 2: After bemoaning the lack of seconds, Sabre started out the round with a headlock takedown, showing a bit more snap after the tentative opening round. Jordon breaks free and goes back to the arm and wrist of Sabre, but that’s quickly escaped as Sabre proceeded to work his way into a double arm stretch, countering any of Breaks’ counters before he took him down into what used to be known as the Young Boy Killer. Eventually Breaks reverses the hold, dropping down as Sabre looked to try and flip free, leading to some pinning attempts before Sabre used his legs to break Breaks’ grip.
Sabre returns with a full nelson, which is reversed back-and-forth, leading to Sabre rolling Breaks aside. A reversed knuckle lock had Breaks in trouble, but Jordon works free into an armbar… but it’s in the ropes before he could take Sabre down to the mat. A drop toe hold from Sabre led him into an Indian deathlock… and that’s time, with Sabre throwing a cheeky kick at Breaks after the bell.
Round 3: Tensions were high to start this round, with Sabre getting taken into the corner… where he grabbed a sneaky front facelock on the break. Jordon returns fire with uppercuts, which Sabre gladly exchanged with him, before Breaks tried to shoot Sabre into the ropes. Zack holds on through, then tripped Breaks into a Euro clutch… only for Jordon to put the brakes on. Pun intended. A lovely exchange sees him go for a rear naked choke, which Sabre countered, before Zack stuffed a kip-up attempt by pulling Jordon down and trapping the legs to get the first fall at 2:18 of the third round.
Round 4: Sabre tries to shut this one down quickly, but his front facelock’s escaped by way of an arm whip as Breaks began to pounce on Zack’s left arm. Breaks rolls Sabre down to the mat from there, then looked for a submission, pulling at the arm, only for Sabre to build momentum and roll free. Breaks gets the Jim Breaks arm lift in again, but is quickly taken down and has his neck twisted as Sabre bought himself some time.
Sabre traps Breaks with a cravat, then an Octopus stretch in search of the match-winner, before an uppercut decks Breaks once again. A snapmare leads to a kick to the back of Breaks, ahead of another snapmare, which this time led to some Figure Four headscissors on the mat. Breaks tries to grapevine Zack’s leds to break free – and does just that – before Sabre trapped Breaks’ head between his legs. It turns into duelling leg locks, with Breaks rolling into the ropes to force a break. A gut shot from Sabre has Breaks on the back foot once more, before a snap suplex took us to the end of the round.
Round 5: Breaks is noticeably limping after the end of that last round, and is quickly in trouble as Sabre rolled him to the mat from a cravat. Breaks tries to go all ZSJ on him with a neck twist, but Zack’s smart to his own stuff… before a series of back-and-forth pins led to Breaks equalising at 54 seconds of the round.
Round 6: It’s now effectively sudden death, and Sabre’s lost the spark he had in the prior rounds as we’re back to the tentative stuff. On the mat, Sabre traps Breaks with headscissors, but they’re escaped as Breaks’ ankle hold saw him head back to the mat, where he’s quickly back in headscissors again. Sabre’s got a limb as well, but the pair roll into the ropes.
Zack’s starting to feel things as well, as Breaks capitalised on his limp and took Sabre down, tying up the legs before he splashed on Sabre’s arm. Breaks loses control as Sabre twists the neck once more, before stomps and kicks had Jordon firmly in trouble. Uppercuts knock Breaks into the ropes, before Jordon tried to hit back with some of his own. Zack’s still have more mustard in them, forcing Breaks to try and snatch any opening he could find… only for Sabre to trap him in a double armbar on the mat. Sabre’s caught in an armbar, but rolls his way out for a two-count, before Sabre’s search for a hold took us to time… and yeah, they’re being a little fast-and-loose with these five minute rounds!
Round 7: We’re done with the niceties here, as uppercuts start the round, with Sabre knocking Breaks back into the corner… before Jordon sidestepped and caught Sabre in an Octopus. That’s quickly escaped and countered into a Cobra Twist as the pair counter each other’s counters. Breaks hiptosses free, then came in with uppercuts, before see-saw pins led to a bunch of near-falls. In the end, Breaks goes back to the uppercuts, but Sabre trips him up, then jack-knifed him with a pin to snatch the win.
Result: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Jordon Breaks by 2 falls to 1 at 1:51 of round 7 (****)
This was a masterclass – nevermind the novelty of Zack Sabre Jr. working in a small town hall in England less than a week before WrestleKingdom; this was two wrestlers working within a long-established rule set, excelling at their craft. We’ve seen with numerous revivals of rounds matches, and they’re not easy to pull off – it’s more than just “take a match and insert some breaks every few minutes.”