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

6. He Competed In MMA

Great Sasuke Jushin Liger Botch
Sherdog

Briefly and not very successfully, sure, but Jushin Liger competed in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.

Complete with a modified version of his iconic mask, Liger had one MMA fight back in November 2002. The original plan for that '02 Pancrase show was for uber badass Minoru Suzuki to face Kensuke Sasaki. After injury ruled Sasaki out, Liger made the absolutely bonkers decision to step in and replace the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion against Suzuki.

Famously, Minoru Suzuki is one of the most brutal and dangerous men in New Japan Pro Wrestling. And back in his MMA days, the Pancrase co-founder was regarded as one of the most brutal and dangerous men in the fight game. The point being, Jushin Liger never stood a chance against Suzuki - and that was only further emphasised after Liger was submitted via rear naked choke after less than two minutes of the fight.

There has to be props to Liger for ever even contemplating the idea of stepping into a legit sporting fight against Minoru Suzuki, but that one fight was enough to convince the real-life Keiichi Yamada that Mixed Martial Arts wasn't for him.

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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.