In one man's eyes, he was a legend in the ring, but years later, he would become a friend and a mentor.
The wrestling world was forever changed on October 20th, 1996, when Jushin Thunder Liger faced off against The Great Muta in a match that, for many, was a dream match. For one young fan watching from afar, witnessing these two legends in the ring ignited a dream to become a part of the wrestling industry. Years later, that same individual enrolled in Wrestling School and adopted the moniker "Cheeseburger" for his in-ring persona.
Cheeseburger was a guest on Fightful Select's Coexisting After Dark with Rob Wilkins & Maggie. He talked about his recent tour overseas and Mexico, being backstage at AEW Dynamite, among other topics.
The WWE Hall of Famer Liger was the mentor with an education of in-ring experience with over 4,300 wrestling matches under his belt. Additionally, Cheeseburger would get advice after his matches from Liger.
"Liger was awesome; he was a fantastic mentor to me when we spent time together. Growing up, he was always my favorite wrestler; once I discovered Japanese wrestling, he immediately drew my attention." Cheeseburger said.
Cheeseburger would further explain how Liger had a significant effect on him."The first match from Japan I saw was Liger vs. Muta, that legendary match. I immediately was like, who is this guy? Why is he so cool, him and Muta? I liked both of them instantly. They were two of my favorite wrestlers. After that, I followed Liger's career for a long time, just when he started coming to Ring of Honor. We had a deal with New Japan, so getting to know him and we became friends."
ライガーさん、今まで本当にありがとうございました。
— -- Mr. CheeseBurger -- (@CheeseburgerROH) March 7, 2019
これまでタッグチームとして試合をしたことはありましたが、私の夢はあなたとシングルの試合をすることです。#njpw47 #NJPWWorld #NJPW pic.twitter.com/4ggsMxpDlp
"I had a Student and Mentor relationship with him. Which was really, really cool; he would give me advice after matches. He taught me my finisher, the Shotei Palm Strike. Just in general, he was an awesome dude to be around. He is someone I think that a lot of wrestlers should aspire to be in terms of being a veteran willing to help the young people and willing to help them grow and just being such a legend but still so humble and still so giving to the wrestling industry." Cheeseburger said.
Sumie got me a Liger hat!!!--------@SumieSakai is so nice -- pic.twitter.com/1Famj0QgM3
— -- Mr. CheeseBurger -- (@CheeseburgerROH) November 2, 2019
"So, getting into the ring with him, whether it was a tag match or just being in the Tokyo Dome Battle Royale with him or the Madison Square Garden Battle Royale was fantastic. I have an incredible amount of good things to say about Liger as a person and as a wrestler." Cheeseburger said.
Cheeseburger recently wrestled at the ROH tapings in Orlando. He was in a tag team match as his team, Shinobi Shadow Squad [Cheeseburger and Eli Isom], faced The Spanish Announce Project. Fightful provides results for Ring of Honor every Thursday evening, which can be seen by clicking here.
