Fans watching New Japan Pro-Wrestling may notice a strange figure in a red mask regularly showing up behind the commentary table. That’s none other than Jushin Thunder Liger, who performed for the company as a staple of the junior heavyweight division from his debut in 1984 all the way to his retirement in 2020.

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Given that many of Liger’s great accomplishments happened before New Japan’s newfound Western popularity in the 2010s, fans may not know a whole lot about the masked performer. So let’s take a look at Jushin Thunder Liger’s career, starting with the gimmick’s unique but totally unsurprising origin.

10 Inspired By An Anime

New Japan Pro-Wrestling found success in the early to mid-1980s with Tiger Mask, a gimmick based on a popular wrestling-themed manga and subsequent anime. In 1989, NJPW followed up by creating a gimmick inspired by Jushin Liger, a new anime from legendary Devilman creator Go Nagai. To fill the role, New Japan enlisted up-and-coming rookie high flyer Keiichi Yamada, then on excursion in the Canadian wrestling scene. Originally named Jushin Liger, in 1990 he got a name tweak, receiving the Jushin Thunder Liger moniker that fans know today.

9 Decorated Champion

More than just a promotional gimmick or mascot character, Jushin Thunder Liger proved over the course of his career to be one of the top junior heavyweights of all time, winning three Best of the Super Junior tournaments and one Super J-Cup. As far as belts, he never captured Heavyweight Title, but still has myriad accolades to his name including 11 runs with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title, 6 with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title, and the J-Crown, which basically means he held eight junior belts at the same time.

8 Kishin Liger

True to his anime origins, Jushin Thunder Liger had an ability he’d pull out of his pocket on rare occasions: a powerful and dangerous form called Kishin Liger. It first manifested in 1996, in a battle with The Great Muta, who forcibly unmasked the hero only to unleash Kishin Liger and intensify the match.

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The demonic persona recently resurfaced in 2019 after Minoru Suzuki similarly attempted an unmasking. Breaking away, Liger removed the mask himself to reveal a painted face and, once again, a sudden thirst for blood and violence.

7 WCW Run

Thanks to WCW’s working relationship with NJPW in the 1990s, Jushin Thunder Liger was a not-uncommon presence in the company, even during the Monday Night Wars. While occasionally presented as a foreign menace, Liger still managed to impress despite the “USA” chants, putting on an acclaimed match with Bryan Pillman at 1992’s SuperBrawl II as well as strong matches with Rey Mysterio Jr., Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko. It wasn’t all great, however — one time he lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title to Juventud Guerrera after getting hit in the head with a tequila bottle.

6 Heel Turn

While Jushin Thunder Liger has spent much of his career as a babyface, he actually turned heel in 2004, adopting a black variant on his classic gear and forming his own stable, Control Terrorism Unit. With a membership that included Gedo, Jado, Prince Devitt (a.k.a. Finn Balor), and a young Hirooki Goto, CTU were the top heel faction of the junior heavyweight division, and held both singles and tag team gold several times during the group’s three-year existence.

5 One WWE Match

Aside from some co-promoted shows in Japan, Liger has only wrestled one match for WWE. In 2015, the legend was announced as an opponent for Tyler Breeze at the very first NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, where the two ended up opening the show. While some fans balked at the pairing, it was a fun match, with Liger executing his Liger Bomb finisher for the win. Despite the one-off appearance, Jushin Thunder Liger was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020.

4 Innovated The Shooting Star Press

One of the coolest high-flying moves in pro wrestling is the Shooting Star Press, which incorporates an impressive front-flip off the top rope. Used by wrestlers like Matt Sydal, AJ Styles, and even Brock Lesnar over the years, the move was actually innovated by Jushin Thunder Liger himself, who introduced it in 1987.

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Somewhat appropriately, Liger took inspiration from the classic post-apocalyptic martial arts manga Fist of the North Star in innovating the maneuver, a fact that becomes obvious once one rereads the name of the move.

3 Feud With Minoru Suzuki

By 2019, Jushin Liger’s career was winding down, and he announced his impending retirement in March of 2019. This announcement annoyed resident heel and MMA pioneer Minoru Suzuki, who felt he had unfinished business with Liger over a legit MMA match the two had back in 2002. After unleashing the aforementioned Kishin Liger during the build, the Liger and Suzuki had their big final encounter at King of Pro-Wrestling, which went nearly 18 minutes before Suzuki ended it with his Gotch-style Piledriver.

2 Retired At Wrestle Kingdom 14

Jushin Thunder Liger’s retirement happened at the two-night Wrestle Kingdom 14 in January of 2020, as the legend wrestled two matches over the course of the event. The first bout functioned as a look back on his career, as he competed in an eight-man tag team match featuring friends and rivals like Tiger Mask IV, The Great Sasuke, and Naoki Sano. On day two, Liger teamed up with his old rival Sano against the youngsters of the Junior Heavyweight division, Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee, with Hiromu having the honor of ending Liger’s career. A lovely retirement ceremony was held the following night at New Year Dash!!

1 NJPW Guest Commentator

Despite his retirement, fans can still see Jushin Thunder Liger at New Japan shows, albeit not as an in-ring competitor. NJPW’s broadcasting team frequently incorporates wrestlers as guest commentators, and since 2017 Liger’s time behind the commentary table has steadily increased. It only made sense for Liger to continue these guest spots, where he can be seen wearing a variation on his signature mask along with incongruously normal clothing. Liger has also done guest commentary for joshi promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom on at least one occasion.

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