WWE News: Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger Of NJPW To Wrestle At ‘NXT Takeover: Brooklyn’
At Thursday night’s WWE NXT tapings at Full Sail University, it was revealed by NXT General Manager William Regal that Japanese wrestling icon Jushin “Thunder” Liger will be wrestling at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn the night before SummerSlam.
The following release was issued on WWE.com.
“International wrestling legend Jushin “Thunder” Liger will appear at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn! The blockbuster announcement was made by NXT General Manager William Regal at tonight’s NXT tapings at Full Sail University in Orlando, Fla and then via Twitter.
“A legend in his home country of Japan, Liger is an innovator of the high-flying, hard-hitting style that defined cruiserweight wrestling. A true aerial artist, he is not only credited with the invention of the Shooting Star Press, but is also a dangerous striker, known for his devastating shotei palm strikes.
“He brought that style to America in the early 1990s with WCW, where he captured their Light Heavyweight Championship from Brian Pillman on Christmas 1991. Liger and Pillman went on to have a classic battle at SuperBrawl II that is regarded as one of the best cruiserweight matches ever. Liger returned to Japan for several years before coming back to WCW for the debut episode of Monday Nitro in 1995, again squaring off with Pillman in a thrilling affair.
“A decorated champion in Japan, Mexico and the United States, Jushin “Thunder” Liger will appear in WWE for the first time ever at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Saturday, Aug. 22.”
Liger is one of the biggest stars in the history of professional wrestling in Japan. Liger is currently an active member of the New Japan Pro Wrestling roster, even wrestling during the joint shows between NJPW and Ring of Honor during May of this year in Philadelphia and Toronto.
Though Liger has wrestled for a number of North American wrestling organizations over the years, including World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Ring Of Honor (ROH), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and Stampede Wrestling, this will be the first time that the 50-year-old Liger has ever wrestled for WWE. He did once appear on a joint show between WWE, NJPW, and All Japan Pro Wrestling at the Tokyo Dome in 1990.
According to PWInsider, Liger will be wrestling Tyler Breeze on the August 22 NXT Takeover show in Brooklyn.
Currently, there’s no word on how Liger’s booking came about. As a member of the NJPW roster, which has a working talent exchange agreement with ROH, the fact that Liger is going to appear on a WWE show is surprising. However, Liger has the ability to book himself internationally, so an agreement between Jushin and WWE could have come about without NJPW’s knowledge.
[Image via YouTube]
