Top 50 Greatest Things: #24

My top 50 greatest things.

Number 24: Jushin "Thunder" Liger

Jushin "Thunder" Liger is my favorite pro wrestler of all time. I first saw him as a child on an old WCW tape and years later when I became more interested in pro wrestling I had the thought "whatever happened to that power ranger guy?". What Satoshi Kojima represents in my pro wrestling tastes is the more hard hitting style of pro wrestling, whereas Liger represents this specific junior heavyweight style that was popularized in Japan in the 90s, that features competitive grappling and high flying moves. Liger is the embodiment of that style, taking what Satoru Sayama and Dynamite Kid pioneered, and elevating it. Liger's entire face and body is covered with his gear, so when selling he had to rely on an even more exaggerated body language than what was already in the nature of the sport. He perfected this and could easily fit into either side of the face/heel dynamic, and was more than capable of sliding back and forth between those alignments depending on the context of the match. My favorite match of his, and my favorite match of all time, is him versus the Great Sasuke at the 1994 Super J Cup. It's a match with stakes that will determine who the best junior heavyweight in the world is and Liger comes into it as this imposing force against the scrappy Michinoku Pro underdog. The finish is an all timer for me that I won't spoil.

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