Jushin Thunder Liger

Jushin Thunder Liger was born on November 30, 1964 in Hiroshima, Japan. Not much is known about his early life, education and family excepting that he began performing as an amateur wrestler since his high school days.

He took part in a national championship tournament in his senior year, however lost in the finals to Toshiaki Kawada.

Aspired to become a professional wrestler, he applied to NJPW’s dojo in the early 1980s following his graduation from high school. However after being rejected due to height requirements, he relocated to Mexico for training.

Striving to sustain himself in Mexico, he was spotted by visiting officials of NJPW. Seeing his struggle and dedication for the sport they asked him to return to Japan and take training in NJPW’s dojo, which he followed.

While training in NJPW’s dojo, he made his debut on March 3, 1984, with his first opponent being Shunji Kosugi. He trained in several martial arts styles and this way picked up his Abisegeri kick also referred as Rolling Liger Kick.

He faced defeat in the hands of Kosugi during the final of the Young Lion Cup tournament in 1985.

Thereafter he lost to Black Tiger in the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in early 1986 and to Nobuhiko Takada in his first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match on July 19, 1986.

Meanwhile in March 1986 he won the Young Lion Cup and then endeavoured on a Europe tour. During that time he wrestled under stage name “Flying" Fuji Yamada in England’s pro-wrestling promotion ‘All Star Wrestling’.

His stint in ‘All Star Wrestling’ saw him beating "Rollerball" Mark Rocco twice in September 1986 and March 1987 to bag the World Heavy Middleweight Championship title, however lost it back to the latter each time. His next visit in All Star was in 1989 with tag team partner Flying Funaki. The last time he visited there was in 2014 with his masked identity, Jushin Liger.