Jushin Thunder Liger Shocks Fans With Surprise In-Ring Return At WrestleCade

WrestleCade weekend delivered one of its biggest surprises ever when Japanese wrestling icon Jushin Thunder Liger briefly stepped out of retirement for an unexpected showdown with The Bad Boy Joey Janela.

Liger officially wrapped up his legendary 35-plus–year career back in 2020, closing the book with a tag match in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. But the 61-year-old Hall of Famer proved he still had one more run-in left in him, answering Janela’s open challenge at the Winston-Salem convention. According to Wrestling Observer, the quick exhibition went about four minutes, with Liger picking up the victory to the delight of the crowd.

Janela didn’t leave with the win, but he left with a bucket-list moment. The former AEW star shared just how surreal it felt to find himself across the ring from the masked legend he grew up watching.

“I thought I saw a ghost! In high school when I was 16, I would bring a portable DVD player on the bus and watch a seven-hour Jushin Liger compilation. Twenty years later, somehow WrestleCade made this wizardry happen! Spectacular feels!” Janela wrote.

Since hanging up the boots, Liger has stayed active in the business through commentary work in NJPW and even popped up in AEW during the 2023 Owen Hart Cup, where he had a brief segment with Ricky Starks.

This year’s WrestleCade was stacked as usual, featuring appearances from Ricky Morton, the Hardy Boyz, JBL, Matt Cardona, Nic Nemeth, and plenty more. But Liger’s unadvertised return easily stole the show — a rare treat for longtime fans and a reminder of why his legacy still resonates across generations.