A legend is walking away.
At the NJPW Anniversary Press Conference, Jushin Thunder Liger announced he will be hanging up his boots in January 2020 at the Tokyo Dome.
"Thank you for joining me here. I will retire next year in January at the Tokyo Dome," said Liger (translation via Chris Charlton). "I did debut in the Tokyo Dome but that had nothing to do with my decision. I said I wanted to retire and the company said ‘ok, the Tokyo dome’. I was like ‘WHAT?’ Only Inoki has done that! (reporter: and Choshu) ah, ok, I’m third. I might not be completely ‘full up’ on wrestling. But that’s the best time to stop. I have done everything I want to do but I’m not sick of it. I’m still mobile, I’m not a complete wreck."
Liger stated he would like to "show himself to the world" one more time, but wouldn't call it a retirement tour.
The 54-year-old made his debut in 1984 under his real name Keiichi Yamada. He became Jushin Thunder Liger on April 24, 1989 at NJPW Battle Satellite In Tokyo Dome, defeating Kuniaki Kobayashi. In his nearly three decades as Jushin Liger, he has won IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title 11 times, Best of Super Juniors three times, and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship six times. While he spent the majority of his career in NJPW, Liger also wrestled for WCW throughout the 90s and took on Tyler Breeze at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in 2015.
He's widely credited as popularizing the junior heavyweight style and considered to be the best junior heavyweight of all-time.
Liger challenged for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title at NJPW's 47th Anniversary Event, but lost to Taiji Ishimori. He is currently scheduled to face Scott Davis at OTT ScrapperMania 5 on Mar. 16. He is not currently booked for the NJPW-ROH G1 Supercard, but pleaded to be booked on the show during the press conference.
