Bred For His Skills In Magic

Jushin Thunder Liger/Tiger Mask IV VS Kenoh/Hajime Ohara - NOAH 8/2/2014

JJZ: This was part of the 2014 NOAH Jr tag league and this is as far from a traditional Jr's match as you will see. It's wild to watch Liger getting out heeled when you think about his nuclear heated run in the past with NOAH. There is a time to wrestle and there is a time to fight. And all four of these guys came to that arena that night for a fist fight. Sometime you watch a match and it is totally opposite of what you expected. Usually you're disappointed. Not in this case at all. I was so taken aback at what I was surprisingly seeing and kept saying to myself, this is so good. How did I not see this before. And I hope you've never seen this before either. Little side note. I know I live and drink at NOAH's well and probably should avoid it for a while but damn I'm glad I took a sip this week.

CJD: This match was such a breath of fresh air. Everyone brought so much to the table but the main thing I was thinking was "fuck me, Jushin Thunder Liger is great." When people think of Liger they probably think of his colorful technical precision and groundbreaking matches. But the thing that is so impressive to me about the thousands of matches he had in his career is how much purpose he put into almost every single one. This feud is such a great example. Neither one of us were aware of it and it's yet it's another in an endless list of great storylines Liger and company built and paid off over his career. Like how many times have you seen Liger, even in a throwaway undercard 6 man like last week, just have "a match?" There's always so much intent there. That's the stuff I love in pro wrestling. And I love Jushin Thunder Liger!! Also Tiger Mask's gear was fire.

JJZ: Yes it was.

YOH Gabba Gabba!

Rocky Romero/SHO/YOH VS Jushin Thunder Liger/KUSHIDA/Tiger Mask IV - NJPW 9/15/2018

CJD: So you've just been through the uphill battle that is finding decent NJPW matches up for free online. I guess they're cracking down more than ever. And this match has a lot going against it. Cheating a bit going right back to SHO. Also right back to KUSHIDA. And yet another extremely short match (don't let the overall runtime fool you, it's first up and flies by). But fuck, this is great trios action while it lasts. Even in its brief duration so much happens and everyone has such a clear role to play. YOH especially shines and you can feel Liger's influence on this division for decades in both directions just from his presence in this simple little match. The way he works with YOH for their interaction here makes me think about how he's done that with so many wrestlers over the years, no matter how small the promotion or how big the stage, he makes everyone he works with feel like you need to watch what comes next for them. I wish I could have found something a bit more interesting for you this week but there was a lot to like here despite the fact I wish it was triple the runtime.

JJZ: Baby cakes this was quite a fun little six man tag. I agree with you that YOH really did shine in this match. This is a match that if you were there live for it might think, this is just a filler match. But it definitely was not. It made the most for what it was. And big ups for the commentators. I really enjoyed the picture they painted for that time in all the wrestlers life. I would love to see that British J-Cup. I'm positive it's not on NJWORLD. I would've definitely watched the shit out of that. My favorite thing about this match was that the vets let the young guys get their shine while still looking good themselves. Nice match baby cakes.

Two Hearts

Fit Finlay/Franz Schumann VS Hiroshi Hase/Jushin Liger - NJPW 2/14/1991

JJZ: First off, I'm drunk. So this will be a fun review. This was such a unique match to watch. Is it the greatest match ever? No. But it's a fun little jawn to drink a lager to. This match has a lot of little one off spots that really pop. Getting to watch Liger and Finlay wrestle each other is a dream come true in my opinion. I think about what you would expect me to play back to you and I don't think you'd think about this match ever. And that's what I love about this story in our lives that we have created. This is a good match with solid psychology that I don't think we'd ever have seen if it wasn't for Play It Forward.

CJD: I wouldn't expect you to play this match back but boy howdy am I glad you did! This is the stuff that PIF is made of and man did I enjoy the heck out of it. Pro wrestling nirvana right here. So many different things coming together in a fairly straightforward, WCW Saturday Night style tag match, that doesn't overachieve but does everything you want it to. All 4 wrestlers shine at various points, both teams have good chemistry, and Liger throws in a surprise top rope elbow drop which is of course a thing of beauty. What a pair of tag matches for our MDTSOCWWKD Champion of the week Hiroshi Hase! And did you know he's a former Olympian?? I sure didn't until now! I really loved this match for its simple but extremely sound fundamentals, great execution, and once in a lifetime feel.

You've Been Thunderstruck

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2t05zm 

Jushin Thunder Liger VS Satoshi Kojima - NJPW G1 Climax 8/8/2001

CJD: Funny story. Back on the ROH message boards in the mid 2000s, which was about as much of an internet cesspool as you could get without diving into the dark web, I remember a post where someone wanted Gabe to bring Kojima back in. I said it would be a waste of money and there were 100 better wrestlers in Japan at the time I'd rather see instead. I got called out to list them, so I did. People really took umbrage to Billy Ken Kid in particular.

Fast forward to 2019, you know I get down with Koji these days, and that I've especially been on a kick of his matches lately. Something to keep in mind going into this was this was a time period when juniors entering the G1 was seen a huge challenge. Liger always makes for extremely entertaining junior/heavyweight matches, and after more matches featured here on PIF than any other wrestler we STILL haven't touched the prime of his career. But something tells me this isn't the last we've seen of him. Enjoy this one baby, dare I say it's right up your alley.

JJZ: Liger working with heavyweights is so good. I'm enjoying his gear in this match. Kojima I'm hit or miss on, but lately, like you I've enjoyed him. The design of Kojima's tights keep tricking me, and I think he has his straps down. Which I know is a big no-no for CJD. This crowd is hot for Liger to get this win. Kojima using his size and weight to slow the match down and wear down Liger is basic nice psychology. They're building up to Liger's comeback perfectly and it does not disappoint. This home stretch is awesome. Not sure why but just like the crowd I popped big for that sleeper. Totally didn't see it coming. Damn Chris. You found an Ace of a match my friend.

Also would love if you can find that list. I 100% remember you doing that. And at the time I agreed with you about Billy Ken Kid.

Cat Power

Jushin Thunder Liger VS Tiger Mask IV - NJPW BOSJ Semifinals 6/17/2006

JJZ: Fuck it. In the past four days I've watched a ton of amazing masked wrestlers and this match can stand with any of them. Liger's been played here more than any other wrestler, but I want to watch this match right here right now and it's about damn time the King gets his crown. Without question in my opinion Liger is top 10, maybe MAYBE top 5 all-time. After watching this match TMIV might be the perfect opponent for Liger to end his career against at the Tokyo Dome in 2020. This match has it all. Picks up when it needs to, slows down when it needs to. Technically sound, great highspots, and stiffness. Also Liger is very vocal. Enjoy it my southern bell.

CJD: I loved the subplot of Liger's slow burn to his first title run here at PIF. The crazy thing is we've featured three of his matches and we still haven't even sniffed his prime. Maybe next week...? Either way, this was a blast. I was worried I'd already seen it but luckily I'm thinking of a different match between these two from around the same time period. Liger was an absolute beast in this one, I can't argue your placement of him among the GOATs in the slightest. I hadn't even considered who will retire him, there are so many great options, I'd hate to have to make that call. Great pick JJZ.

There's A New Generation Coming And We Really Gotta Stand Up To Them

Jushin Thunder Liger/Ultimo Dragon VS Motor City Machine Guns - UWA Hardcore 5/26/2007

CJD: I had a few matches in mind for my pick and this was absolutely not one of them. It was a total curiosity while searching for other stuff and I'm so glad made time for it. It's deceptively good, on the surface it might seem to merely be fan service to two legends coming in from overseas. If you dig deeper though it's really fundamentally sound tag wrestling. If you were to put this in front of a modern NJPW crowd it would gets tons of attention as opposed to something I never knew existed that has a few hundred views.

JJZ: This was a fun match. Pretty basic psychology but the crowd was super into it which made even the smallest things seem huge. Shelley and Sabin played the heel role well and the crowd ate up the hot tag. I couldn't tell the time frame of the match because the video quality was poor but Ultimo and Liger seem ageless anyway so it doesn't really matter. I'm like 50/50 on Sabin. He didn't do anything to blow me away this match but he did provide a strong base for the two vets. Shelley as always impressed me with the smallest things. He never disappoints with his attention to details. I'll have some happy hunting for the new champ.

Sabre The Flavor

Jushin Thunder Liger/Tiger Mask IV (c) VS Yoshinari Ogawa/Zack Sabre Jr - NOAH GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 12/7/2013

CJD: Nine times out of ten if you put two roads in front of me I'll take the road less traveled. This was the tenth fork in the road for me. I watched a lot of Eagles matches, all of which I liked, but none accomplished what this match did. This is basic, Southern influenced Japanese tag team pro wrestling goodness, and a complete departure from the last ZSJ match. John since you're Captain Noah you may have already seen this one, but on the off chance you haven't then I hope you enjoy it.

JJZ: Really liked this match. The biggest thing that stuck out to me is the fact that Liger/TM IV/Ogawa have all been wrestling as long or longer than ZSJ has been alive at the time of this match and Zack got so much offense in. The respect he was given by two legends says a lot and you can tell he felt little to no pressure in this title match. Ogawa who I am not normally a big fan of did his role of vet tag partner pretty perfect. Loved the end also. Excited to select the next champion!