Inside Wrestle Kingdom 14 looks at the featured matches from both days of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s (NJPW) upcoming Wrestle Kingdom events on January 4th and January 5th. This article highlights the final match of Jyushin Thunder Liger’s career.
Night two of Wrestle Kingdom 14 plays host to the final match in Jyushin Thunder Liger’s legendary wrestling career. Liger is largely responsible for making the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship the most prestigious championship of its kind over the past 30 years.
In his final wrestling match, Liger will team with his first rival and 2nd generation NJPW Tokyo Dojomate, Noaki Sano against rising junior heavyweight aces current Ring Of Honor Television Champion Ryu Lee and Hiromu Takahashi who may be the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion at the time of the match.
Both Lee (1-0) and Hiromu (1-4) have a singles victory over the retiring Liger.
The match itself will likely take an emotional toll on the four competitors, the fans in attendance, and long-term fans of Jyushin Thunder Liger watching the event on New Japan World. While Liger’s retirement ceremony isn’t until the following night at New Years Dash, he will likely receive a standing ovation sendoff at the Tokyo Dome on January 5th.
Liger will end his career with well over 4,200 matches, with over 3,600 of them taking place at an NJPW promoted event. While he is stepping away from the ring, he’s likely to remain a trainer at the NJPW Tokyo Dojo and a part-time commentator for NJPW.
NJPW put together a mini-site which highlights the marquee moments during his career. A number of his matches can be found on the New Japan World streaming service.
Inside Wrestle Kingdom 14 Series:
1. Both Nights On Better Pace Than Last Year, A Look At The Featured Matches
2. Jyushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match I
3. G.O.D. Face FinJuice For The IWGP Heayweight Tag Team Championship
4. Lance Archer and Jon Moxley IWGP US Heavyweight Texas Death Match
5. Will Ospreay Defends His IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Against Hiromu Takahashi
6. Double Gold Dash, Jay White And Tetsuya Naito For The IWGP Intercontinental Championship
7. The Tanahashi and Jericho Match Has An Added Stipulation
8. Double Gold Dash, Kazuchika Okada And Kota Ibushi For The IWGP Heavyweight Championship
9. Jyushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match II
10. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Contest
11. Zack Sabre Jr And Sanada For The RevPro British Heavyweight Championship
12. KENTA And Hirooki Goto Battle Over The Never Openweight Championship
