NJPW News: Liger announces when he will retire, expresses desire to wrestle at MSG, ticket update for August UK event and G1 Climax in Texas (w/Radican’s Analysis)

At a NJPW press conference held earlier today, Jushin Liger announced that he intends to retire at Wrestle Kingdom in January of 2020. NJPW will be holding two Wrestle Kingdom events in January 2020. Liger, who is one of the most influential cruiserweights in the world, said he hopes to wrestle all around the world until January.

In addition to wanting to retire at Wrestle Kingdom next year, Liger expressed his desire to be part of the ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard event being held at Madison Square Garden in New York during WrestleMania weekend. Liger is currently 54 years old and has been wrestling for nearly 40 years. He was part of the cruiserweight division in WCW in the 90s and also appeared in ROH and Impact Wrestling. Liger also appeared at an NXT Takeover event in 2015 getting a win over Tyler Breeze.

Liger has won the IWGP Jr. Hvt. Championship in NJPW 11 times, which is a record for the promotion. He is also a six time IWGP Jr. Hvt. Tag Team Champion.

You can watch the press conference below:

Radican’s Analysis: Liger is one of if not the best cruiserweight wrestler of all-time. His colorful mask and attire captured my attention when I first saw him wrestling in the 90s. When I saw him appear in ROH at Weekend of Thunder: Night 1 in November 2004, he faced Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan in WWE) in the main event that tore the house down. Liger hadn’t appeared in the U.S. frequently at the time he got booked in ROH during this period and it felt so special to see him in the ring. He tore the house down with Danielson that night and it’s something I haven’t forgotten to this day. 

I’m looking forward to seeing Liger wrestle for the rest of 2019 before he retires at what is sure to be a special match at Wrestle Kingdom next year. At the age of 54, Liger can still go and he’s definitely going to go out on a high note.