10 Things You Didn’t Know About Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger

7. The Imposter

Great Sasuke Jushin Liger Botch
NJPW

Having competed for Genichir Tenryu’s WAR between 1994 and 1996, Chris Jericho would return to Japan in 1997. And not just return to Japan, for Jericho was brought into New Japan Pro Wrestling purposely to begin a rivalry with Jushin Liger.

Debuting with NJPW in January 1997 at the company’s Wrestling World show, Jericho was dubbed Super Liger and handed a silver bodysuit that was similar to Liger’s iconic attire. From here, the future Painmaker was meant to spend several months battling Liger in a feud that would’ve hopefully boosted Jericho’s rising star even more.

Unfortunately, the whole Super Liger thing was over before it ever really began. When Jericho botched several moves in his Wrestling World 1997 debut against Koji Kanemoto, the Super Liger gimmick was completely canned after just one match.

Jericho would remain with New Japan for the next six months or so, but it was in an unmasked capacity. After returning to WCW and then heading to WWE, it wouldn't be until November 2017 that Chris Jericho would resurface in New Japan Pro Wrestling - over 20 years since he was due to embark on a major rivalry with Jushin Liger.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.