We continue our countdown to Jyushin Thunder Liger’s retirement.
<– 30 Years of Liger in 30 Days: 2002 30 Years of Liger in 30 Days: 2004–>
Wrestle Kingdom 14 night 1: January 4 tickets!
Wrestle Kingdom 14 night 2: January 5 tickets!
After years at the top of singles competition in NJPW, Jyushin Thunder Liger’s 2003 saw him have greater success as part of a team. His year started in the Tokyo Dome clad in all-red and with hand raised, as he reunited with a former partner and rival in Koji Kanemoto, and fought faces familiar and unknown. After the third generation of Tiger Mask was unveiled as Koji Kanemoto a decade earlier, Liger now faced the fourth man under the famous hood in 2003 in the Tokyo Dome, teaming with a new animated masked hero in ‘Heat’.
Liger and Kanemoto would soon take IWGP Junior Tag Team gold back to New Japan by defeating Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru on NOAH turf in Kobe. Osaka Pro Tag Team Championships would also follow for Liger in 2003, and his tag team focused year would be rounded out as he formed what was once an unlikely pairing with Masahiro Chono in the G1 Tag League. That duo would only log a 1-6 record, leading to Liger starting 2004 with a redoubled singles focus that would reap rewards.
