Jushin Liger Keiichi Yamada ( November 30 , 1964 ) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently known by the ring name Jushin Liger . Career . Early career . Yamada was an amateur wrestler while studying in high school . He applied to New Japan Pro Wrestling to become a wrestler in the early 1980s . He was not accepted because he did not meet the height requirements they had at that time . Yamada was determined not to give up his dream of becoming a professional wrestler , so he left for Mexico and began his training there . By his own account , he was almost starving while studying there , so NJPW officials who were visiting took pity on him and asked him to come back to Japan . While continuing his studies , he had his debut match in December 1984 at the age of 20 . He began studying various martial arts styles because he wanted to add something new and different to his wrestling style , which is how he learned his Rolling Koppou Kick . He left for England in 1986 where he wrestled for All - Star Promotions as " Flying " Fuji Yamada . After returning to Japan , he debuted his Shooting Star Press in 1987 , for which he had gotten the idea from reading the manga Fist of the North Star . He left for Canada early 1989 , where he wrestled in Stu Hart ' s Stampede Wrestling under his real name . He also trained under Hart in Hart ' s legendary " Dungeon . " His experiences there led him to refer to Hart as a " very , very tough man . " NJPW called him back to Japan , as they needed him for a gimmick based on an extremely popular anime superhero , " Jushin Liger " , created by celebrated mangaka Go Nagai . NJPW had done this previously with Tiger Mask , which had become a huge success . Yamada was given a superhero - like full body costume & demonic looking mask , resembling the superhero type featured in tokusatsu and anime programs . NJPW . Jushin Liger debuted in April 24 , 1989 in NJPW . In his debut match , he defeated Kuniaki Kobayashi . Afer using the Jushin Liger gimmick the anime progressed , and as the Go Nagai Anime progress the hero powered up and changed 3 times . as the hero changed so did Liger . First to Fire Liger then to the character gimmick he goes by today , Jushin Thunder Liger . He quickly became one of NJPW ' s top Junior Heavyweights , eventually capturing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title eleven times among numerous other titles and accolades while wrestling around the world . When appearing without his mask on , Yamada blocks his appearance by covering his face with one hand . Early on , Yamada ' s style mostly consisted of high flying . Later on , he started adapting more power moves and started focusing more on grappling and telling a story in the ring , part this change was due to fact that Liger had to reduce the stress he was putting on his body after brain tumor surgery . Liger has won two Super J Cup tournaments - the 1995 and 2000 events . From 2001 - 2007 , Liger was the leader of the NJPW heel stable Control Terrorism Unit ( CTU ) along with Hirooki Goto , Minoru Tanaka , Black Tiger IV , Gedo , Jado , Prince Devitt and briefly James Gibson . CTU was disbanded in August 2007 , when Liger decided CTU would disband while at the top of NJPW , Liger would then join Masahiro Chono ' s Legend stable . On June 28 , 2006 , Liger was announced as a participant in the 2006 G - 1 Climax , the third time he has appeared in the tournament . WCW . Jushin Liger also made appearances with WCW during the ' 90s . He made his debut in late 1991 . He feuded with Brian Pillman , whom he would go on to face at SuperBrawl ' 92 , where Pillman defeated him . Liger left WCW in ' 93 for NJPW , but he returned in ' 95 . He would later face many other opponents such as Chris Benoit , Brian Pillman , Dean Malenko , Rey Mysterio , Jr . , and Juventud Guerrera . Pancrase . On November 30 , 2002 , Liger was booked as a replacement for a mixed martial arts match in the Pancrase organization against Minoru Suzuki due to his planned opponent being forced to pull out . In what would be Liger ' s only MMA match , ( and Suzuki ' s last non - worked match ) he was easily beaten by Suzuki via rear naked choke only 1 : 48 into the first round . After a failed attempt at a Rolling Koppu Kick , Liger was quickly mounted and hit with Suzuki ' s ground and pound until the choke was applied , forcing Liger to tap out . Ring of Honor . On November 5 , 2004 , Liger debuted in ROH , headlining their back - to - back " Weekend of Thunder " shows to huge acclaim . ROH selected Bryan Danielson as Liger ' s special opponent for that weekend . For Night 1 , the two faced each other in a singles match , with Liger winning the highly competitive bout after a super brainbuster . On November 6 , 2004 Night 2 would see a " dream tag - team " match in the main event . Liger chose then - ROH Champion Samoa Joe as his partner out of respect for Joe ' s accomplishments as ROH World Champion , and Danielson selected Low Ki to negate Joe . Liger again came out on top , pinning Danielson with a Liger Bomb to win the match . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Liger debuted in the American Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion on October 23 , 2005 as part of their " Bound for Glory " pay - per - view , losing to Samoa Joe in a rare international appearance . He was scheduled to face off against Christopher Daniels at Lockdown on April 23 , 2006 . He had been unaware that the match was to be held in a Steel Cage , something in which he had never participated before . When he heard of this he cancelled the match . One of TNA ' s bookers Scott D ' Amore has speculated that he didn ' t want to participate in the match due to it being in a new environment , fearing it would have hampered his performance . According to D ' Amore , Liger had been unhappy with his previous TNA match against Joe which was cut short due to communication problems , and wanted his next TNA match to be better . D ' Amore has also disproved the rumor that communication issues between TNA and NJPW had caused the match to be cancelled . Liger was not double booked to two events at the same time , like had been publicly speculated . Liger was the captain of the New Japan team in the World X Cup 2006 Tournament and defeated Team Canada ' s Captain Petey Williams at TNA Sacrifice on May 14 , 2006 using a Crash Thunder Buster after Williams was distracted by the rest of Team Japan who draped the flag over Williams after Liger ' s victory . Liger was eliminated in the X - Cup Gauntlet later that night and Team Japan was unable to gain any points in the match as it was won by Team Canada with Team Mexico as runners up . UWA Hardcore Wrestling . Liger made his Canadian return on May 25 and May 26 , 2007 in Mississauga , Ontario and competed in UWA Hardcore Wrestling . On night one he teamed with PUMA and defeated the team of Ultimo Dragon and Kazuchika Okada after Liger hit the Liger bomb on Okada . On night two , Liger teamed with Ultimo Dragon and defeated the Motor City Machine Guns ( Alex Shelly & Chris Sabin ) after a Liger bomb Dragon Sleeper combo . Kishin Liger . On October 10 , 1996 , The Great Muta faced off in a match with Liger . As the match progressed , Muta resorted to his underhand tactics that had become his style over the years . He tore at Liger ' s mask and eventually ripped it off , but Liger kept his face down on the mat . After grabbing a chair outside the ring , Muta entered the ring but before he could hit Liger with it , Liger stood up and revealed his face to be painted pale white and spit mist into Muta ' s face ( another Muta trademark ) . He tore off his bodysuit and revealed a painted chest , then proceeded to fight more aggressively the rest of the match . Despite losing , the match remains a personal favorite of many Liger and Muta fans . On July 30 , 2006 , Liger once again pulled out the " Kishin " gimmick and faced off with rival BAD BOY Hido in New Japan Pro Wrestling . The story was that Hido had cut a piece of Liger ' s hair and Liger vowed revenge , so he transformed into Kishin Liger . Liger won the match with a brainbuster onto a steel chair . The gimmick is a variation of The Great Muta gimmick which relies on bloody and evil tactics in a match , using mannerisms and imagery that differ from the person ' s normal ways . This gimmick also uses many wrestling moves that are regulars in The Great Muta ' s move set , such as the Asian mist . Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre . Liger made his debut for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre on May 3 , 2010 , where he defeated legendary lucha libre veteran Negro Casas to win the CMLL World Middleweight Championship