New Japan Pro Wrestling History of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Vol. 6

Running Time: 60 minutes

Back in 1996 New Japan released a 10-volume, 10-hour set of videos chronicling the history not just of their jr. title, but their juniors division in general dating back to the late-70s. This tape focuses on 1989-1990, a significant period for the juniors division because it gave us the debuts of Jushin Liger and Pegasus Kid, plus classic feuds Liger had with Sano and later Pegasus (Chris Benoit). This tape contains mainly clips of matches, with some of the best or most prominent matches given more airtime than the others.

1. 4/25/89: Jushin Liger vs Kuniaki Kobayashi

Liger applied a headlock and flipped out of a back suplex attempt. Liger powerslammed Kobayashi and gave him a lariat. Liger gave Kobayashi a baseball slide kick and hit a plancha. Liger gave Kobayashi a snap suplex, flip senton and corkscrew splash for a near fall. Liger hit a corkscrew top rope dive in the ring, almost like a spear because he didn�t flip completely over. Liger back suplexed Kobashi for the pin. 1:38 aired, and this looked good yet unspectacular and hardly a memorable debut for Liger.

2. 5/25/89 IWGP Jr. Title: Hiroshi Hase (c) vs Jushin Liger

Hase hit a plancha and whipped Liger into the barricade. Liger applied a chinlock but Hase countered with a Samoan drop. Hase gave Liger a fireman�s carry into a gutbuster. Hase hit a second rope foot stomp and dropped Liger gut first across the barricade. Hase missed a spin kick and Liger gave him a lariat. Liger hit a dive through the ropes. Liger gave Hase a top rope superplex for a near fall. Liger countered a back suplex and gave Hase 4 koppo kicks. Liger gave Hase a cradle back suplex for the pin to win the title (3:02 aired). Looked like a great match.

3. 7/13/89 IWGP Jr. Title: Jushin Liger (c) vs Naoki Sano

Liger hit a spin kick and suplexed Sano over the top rope to the floor. Liger hit a tope atomico off the top rope onto a prone Sano on the floor. Sano backflipped off the top rope over Liger but Liger blocked a mule kick. Sano countered and gave Liger a spinning enzuguiri. Sano dropkicked Liger out of the ring and hit a baseball slide kick. Sano hit a tope and gained a near fall with a German suplex. Sano gained a near fall with a double underhook suplex. Liger countered a dragon suplex with a rollup for a near fall. Sano gave Liger a back superplex but hurt himself as well. Both men were counted out in a double KO finish (3:16 aired). Cheap finish to what was clearly a great match.

4. 8/3/89: Jushin Liger, Kengo Kimura & Riki Choshu vs Big Van Vader, Buzz Sawyer & Manny Fernandez

Liger knocked Vader out of the ring with a dropkick for a pop. Vader pounded Liger and gave him a lariat. Vader press slammed Liger onto a bunch of attendants at ringside. Liger countered a suplex back into the ring and gave Vader a lariat. Choshu then knocked down Vader with his lariat. Liger dropkicked Vader over the top rope to the floor. Fernandez elbowed Choshu and gained a near fall but Liger intervened with a top rope headbutt. Choshu gave Fernandez a lariat and Kimura gave him a leg lariat for the pin (2:50 aired). Looked like a good, fun match with a funky crew of workers.

5. 8/10/89 IWGP Jr. Title: Jushin Liger (c) vs Naoki Sano

Sano worked on Liger�s arm and gave him a Romero special. Both men countered German suplexes, and Sano applied a Fujiwara-like armbar. Sano gained a near fall with a tombstone and applied a cross armbreaker. Liger gained a near fall with a lariat. Sano countered a suplex with a Fujiwara armbar. Sano gained a near fall with a German suplex. Sano gave Liger a back superplex for the pin to win the title (3:05 aired). Great match with nice psychology in the choice of finisher.

6. 9/20/89 IWGP Jr. Title: Naoki Sano (c) vs Jushin Liger

Liger back suplexed Sano for a near fall. Liger caught Sano in a criss cross with a dropkick and suplexed him to the floor. Liger hit a flip plancha. Sano went for a back superplex but Liger fell on top of him for a near fall. Sano backflipped over Liger in the corner but Liger hit a moonsault bodyblock for a near fall. Sano blocked a top rope suplex and dropped Liger face first to the mat. Sano tiger suplexed Liger for the pin (2:20) to retain the title. Looked like the finish was botched as Liger kicked out prematurely.

7. 12/31/89: Jushin Liger vs Black Tiger

Tiger attacked Liger at the bell and hit a lariat and some axhandles. Tiger hit a modified (no arms) pedigree. Liger countered a backdrop by landing on his feet and dropkicked Tiger. Tiger lifted Liger into a backbreaker. Liger did an overhead throw/suplex of Tiger and gained a near fall with a lionsault. Liger tombstoned Tiger but missed a top rope headbutt. Tiger top rope superplexed Liger and countered a German suplex with a low mule kick. Tiger gained a near fall with a small package. Liger gave Tiger a koppo kick and a Liger bomb for the pin (2:50 aired). This looked like a good-very good match that was carried by Liger.

8. 1/18/90: Jushin Liger vs Hiro Saito

Saito legdropped Liger twice and gained a near fall with a kneedrop. Saito headbutted and slammed Liger for a near fall. Saito gained a near fall with a fallaway slam. Liger hit a koppo kick in the corner. Liger went for a sunset flip out of the corner, Saito blocked it and held onto the second rope for the pin (1:45 aired). Saito didn�t seem as out of place in a match like this as I would have figured.

9. 1/25/90: Jushin Liger vs Akira Nogami

Liger gained a near fall with a koppo kick. Nogami gained a near fall with a reverse rollup. Nogami missed a dropkick and Liger applied a torture rack. Liger gained the submission win (42 seconds aired).

10. 1/30/90: Jushin Liger vs Owen Hart

Owen applied a wristlock and suplexed Liger. Owen tombstoned Liger. Liger caught Owen on the top rope and top rope superplexed him. Liger gave Owen a Liger bomb for the pin (1:00 aired).

11. 1/31/90 IWGP Jr. Title: Naoki Sano (c) vs Jushin Liger

Liger attacked Sano with palm strikes at the bell. Sano tombstoned Liger and ripped his mask. Sano threw Liger out of the ring and slammed him head first into the ringpost. Liger gave Sano a headscissors takedown out of the corner. Liger dropkicked Sano out of the ring and hit a somersault plancha. Liger gave Sano a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and applied a Romero special. Sano countered a Liger bomb with a huracanrana for a near fall. Sano gained a near fall with a tiger suplex. Sano went for a back suplex but Liger fell on top of him for a near fall. Liger gained a near fall with a German suplex and countered a huracanrana with a Liger bomb for another near fall. Liger tombstoned Sano and hit a shooting star press for the pin to win the title (4:41 aired). Even as clipped as this was you could tell this was a sensational match, and based on the clips it seemed like their final big singles match was easily their best.

12. Jushin Liger & Akira Nogami vs Naoki Sano & Pegasus Kid

Liger whipped Nogami into a tope suicida on Pegasus. Liger hit a somersault plancha on Sano. Nogami gave Pegasus a flying bodypress for a near fall. Pegasus gained a near fall on Nogami with a belly to belly suplex. Sano tombstoned Nogami and launched Pegasus with a top rope flip senton onto Nogami. Sano tiger suplexed Nogami for the pin (1:16 aired). Looked like a great match with an unusually hot dome crowd for a juniors match.

13. 3/19/90 IWGP Jr. Title: Jushin Liger (c) vs Pegasus Kid

Liger applied a camel clutch on Pegasus. Liger gained a near fall with a Liger bomb and hit a dropkick in the corner. Liger went for a top rope superplex but Pegasus fell on top of him for a near fall. Pegasus slammed Liger but Liger caught him on the top rope and slammed him to the mat. Liger missed a top rope headbutt. Pegasus gained a near fall with a lariat and another near fall with a snap suplex. Liger pinned Pegasus with a rollup to retain the title (2:32 aired).

14. 8/19/90 IWGP Jr. Title: Jushin Liger (c) vs Pegasus Kid

They did a wristlock flip counter sequence early. Pegasus won a test of strength but Liger took him down with a drop toehold. Liger crossed Pegasus�s legs and applied a modified surfboard. Liger gained a near fall with a sunset flip. Pegasus countered a German suplex with a German suplex of his own for a near fall. Pegasus gave Liger a top rope superplex but then missed a top rope headbutt. Liger gained a near fall with a koppo kick. Pegasus telegraphed a backdrop and Liger powerslammed him for a near fall. Liger slammed Pegasus and hit a top rope flip senton for a near fall. Pegasus countered a Liger bomb with a huracanrana for a near fall. Pegasus gave Liger a lariat and a tombstone. Pegasus gave Liger a top rope legdrop and pinned him to win the title (4:37 aired). Great match based on what was shown.

15. 9/30/90: Jushin Liger vs Villano III

Villano dropkicked Liger off the apron and hit a Thesz press off the apron. Villano flapjacked Liger and gained a near fall with la magistral. Liger gained a near fall with a sunset flip. Liger gave Villano a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and hit a somersault plancha. Liger tombstoned Villano and applied a weird lucha submission hold for the submission win (1:33 aired). Cool finish.

16. 11/1/90 IWGP Jr. Title: Pegasus Kid (c) vs Jushin Liger

Liger spin kicked Pegasus out of the ring and hit a somersault plancha. Liger caught Pegasus on the top rope and back superplexed him for a near fall. Pegasus caught Liger on the top rope and top rope superplexed him for a near fall. Liger countered a Boston crab with a rollup for a near fall. Pegasus blocked a sunset flip and gained a near fall. Pegasus tombstoned Liger but missed a top rope legdrop. Liger tombstoned Pegasus and hit a shooting star press to win the title (2:57 aired). Looked like a great match maybe even better than their 8/19/90 match.

17. 12/26/90 IWGP Jr. Title: Jushin Liger (c) vs Negro Casas

Casas gave Liger some kicks. Casas dragged Liger out of the ring but Liger kicked him. Liger hit a Thesz press off the apron. Casas whipped Liger into the barricade. Casas kicked Liger on the apron and charged but Liger kicked him overhead and Casas hit the turnbuckle head first. Casas applied a modified STF. Liger armdragged Casas on a criss cross and gave him some palm strikes. Liger monkey flipped Casas. Casas blocked a second monkey flip and placed Liger on the top rope but Liger grabbed him with his legs and flipped him out of the ring. Liger missed a spin kick. Casas gained a near fall with a German suplex and another near fall with a double arm suplex. Casas gained a near fall with a small package. Liger countered a superplex with a shoda but missed a top rope dropkick. Liger gave Casas a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and dumped him clear out of the ring. Liger hit a somersault plancha. Liger top rope back superplexed Casas for the pin to retain the title (4:21 aired). This was a great match- Casas was good while Liger was at the top of his game.

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