It has been speculated for months, but now it is official. The legendary Jyushin “Thunder” Liger will be an entrant in the 2020 WWE Hall Of Fame. The trailblazing junior heavyweight called it a day and retired in January putting an end to his 35-year career.
Fans in the USA were exposed to Liger back in the ’90s when he was a part of WCW’s cruiserweight division. He even captured the WCW Light Heavyweight championship in 1991. He also wrestled Tyler Breeze at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn in his only WWE appearance to date.
While some will have heard of him for his work in WCW or the cup of Coffee in NXT it is in Japan that Liger truly became one of the all-time greats. Liger was an innovator, someone that was pushed beyond the usual restrictions of being a junior heavyweight. For many fans seeing Liger take no Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and The Great Sasuke was their introduction to a completely new kind of wrestling.
Not only was Liger having these great matches but he was also extremely successful. He is a former eleven (yes 11) time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, six-time junior heavyweight tag team champion, Open The Dream Gate Champion, and GHC Junior Heavyweight champion to name just a few. On top of that, he is a former Super J Cup winner and former Top/Best Of The Super Junior winner.
Jyushin Liger became a name that outgrew New Japan Pro Wrestling, and the junior heavyweight branding. He transcended geographic boundaries to become a respected name all around the world. As one of the most innovative junior heavyweight champions of all time he has more than earned a spot in the WWE Hall Of Fame.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Make sure to subscribe NJPW on NJPW World so you can revisit the classics of Liger’s career.
