Jushin Thunder Liger made a surprise appearance to come out of retirement at the annual WrestleCade Supershow in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The event, which took place on Saturday, November 29, 2025, at the Benton Convention Center, saw the New Japan Pro-Wrestling legend answer an open challenge issued by Joey Janela.
If fans had Liger vs. Janela on their bingo card for 2025, Saturday was their night. According to reports, the match lasted just four minutes, with Liger picking up the victory over ‘The Bad Boy’.
This return comes nearly three weeks after Liger celebrated his 61st birthday. He returned to the ring nearly five years after his official retirement, which occurred following his tag team match at 2020’s Wrestle Kingdom 14. In that bout, Liger and Naoki Sano fell in defeat to Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee.
Liger’s career accolades were further recognized earlier this year. He was inducted into the RevPro Hall of Fame this past August, adding to his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020.
The legendary junior heavyweight left the sport as an 11-time NJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion and a six-time Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. His international resume includes a reign as CMLL Middleweight Champion, as well as runs as WWF Light Heavyweight Champion in 1997 and WCW Light Heavyweight Champion in 1991-92.
Crazy I'll always be able to say I was there when Jushin Thunder Liger came out of retirement to beat Joey Janella pic.twitter.com/Zz8Mkguszw
— DietDrScrub #RIPBrodie🍉 (@DietDrScrub) November 30, 2025
Oh shit Jushin Thunder Liger is wrestling! pic.twitter.com/rQKzKhvwl5
— Lord Lambo (@LordLambo99) November 29, 2025
Jushin Thunder Liger Vs Joey Janela!!
Didn’t have this on my 2025 bingo card pic.twitter.com/AJ5WjBQgf8— THE INTERNATIONAL GIGOLO 🌎🇺🇸🇬🇧🇯🇵 (Mittens) (@Indie_Mittens) November 29, 2025
