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

3. A Truly International Career

Great Sasuke Jushin Liger Botch
CMLL

Before and during his spell as Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, Keiichi Yamada travelled the globe and honed his craft in a whole variety of countries.

After initially being turned down for a spot in the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo due to being deemed too small, Yamada headed to Mexico to begin his professional wrestling training. Eventually, NJPW would take pity on Yamada and put him alongside the likes of Keiji Mutoh and Masahiro Chono in the NJPW dojo.

In addition to competing in Japan and Mexico, however, Liger would go on to wrestle in the United States, Canada, and England for some of the biggest wrestling promotions on the planet – such as NJPW, CMLL, WCW, NWA, Ring of Honor, TNA, Stampede Wrestling, Dragon Gate, PWG, and even a brief stopover in NXT.

When it comes to having an international appeal and global name value, few modern-day wrestlers have earned their stripes as much as Jushin Liger.

The last several years of Liger’s career may have seen him brought in by promotions as part of a farewell tour of sorts, yet this icon was in worldwide demand way before it became purely about nostalgia and giving audiences chance to say goodbye to one of the all-time greats.

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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.