Keiichi Yamada

Keiichi Yamada
Data
Ring name	Keiichi Yamada "Flying" Fuji Yamada Jushin Liger Jyushin Liger Kishin Liger
height	170 cm.
Fighting weight	95 kg.
birth	November 10, 1964 Hiroshima , Japan
Trained by	Kotetsu Yamamoto Stu Hart

Keiichi Yamada ( Japanese 山田 恵 一 , Yamada Keiichi ; born November 10, 1964 in Hiroshima , Japan ) known under the ring name Jūshin "Thunder" Liger ( 獣 神 サ ン ダ ー ・ ラ イ ガ ー , Jūshin Sandā Raigā ) is a Japanese professional wrestler . He competed in America in the WCW and TNA leagues , in Japan with AJPW and NJPW , and in Mexico with the AAA . Yamada is 1.68 m (1.70 m, according to other sources) and weighs 94 kg. He is deaf in one ear.

Biography and career

Yamada started pro-wrestling in the mid-1980s. As is customary in Japan, he spent his first years as a jobber ; H. as a planned loser who lost to better-known wrestlers. He also competed in England, there as Flying Fuji Yamada . In 1989, at Japan's biggest annual wrestling event in the Tokyo Dome, he finally got the gimmick of the Jushin "Thunder" Liger. Liger is a fusion of the words lion and tiger . Liger almost always competes in a mask, his gimmick was initially designed as a comedy gimmick, but Liger was soon able to establish himself as a serious wrestler. Liger won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title for the first time on May 25, 1989, which he should win a total of eleven times. Once he was even allowed to win, albeit unmasked, against Antonio Inoki , who has a similar invincibility status in Japan as Hulk Hogan in the USA.

In 1991 he signed a contract with WCW, where he feuded against Brian Pillman . The two also opened the very first broadcast of WCW Monday Nitro . In between, he also joined the AAA in Mexico, which worked with the WCW during this time. There and in the WCW he feuded after Pillman against Rey Mysterio , whom he was then able to defeat at the World War III event . During this time he also won the J-CROWN Octuple Unified Title , a combination of 8 titles from the lightweight divisions of different leagues, including the then WWF and the NWA . He defended this title for 7 months before losing it again.

In 1999 he returned to the WCW, where he feuded against Juventud Guererra . After this feud, he went back to Japan, where he changed his gimmick to Black Liger and competed in the Heavyweight Division for the first time.

After he had a feud against a group of young wrestlers in Japan for 2 years, he made his debut in the promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2005 at TNA Bound for Glory against Samoa Joe . Since then he has appeared sporadically in various small leagues in the United States and Japan. In August 2015, he joined the WWE as part of the NXT takeover storyline.

In March 2020 it was announced that Yamada would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame .

Overview of the titles

• 1 × WWF World Light Heavyweight Title.
• 4 × IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title
• 11 × IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
• 1 × J-CROWN Octuple Unified Title
• 1 × NOAH Global Honored Crown Junior Heavyweight Title
• 1 × NWA World Jr. Heavyweight Title
• 1 × NWA World Welterweight Title
• 1 × Open the Dream Gate Title
• 1 × Osaka Pro Tag Team Title
• 1 × UWA World Jr. Light Heavyweight Title
• 1 × WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles
• 1 × WAR International Junior Heavyweight Title
• 1 × WCW World Light Heavyweight Title
• 1 × WWA World Jr. Light Heavyweight Title

Web links

Commons : Jushin Liger  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Batista and The nWo to enter the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020. Accessed April 20, 2020 .