Liger wins Super Juniors tournament
By JOHN F. MOLINARO -- SLAM! Wrestling
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Jushin "Thunder" Liger
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Jushin "Thunder" Liger defeated I.W.G.P. Junior Heavyweight champion Minoru Tanaka today in the finals of New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual Best of Super Juniors
tournament.
A crowd of 5,700 fans packed into the Prefectural Gym in Osaka, Japan as Liger pinned Tanaka in 26:12 following his trademark brainbuster move. This is Liger's third
tournament championship, having previously won the tournament in 1992 and 1994.
Liger advanced to the finals after finishing in first place with ten points in Block A of the round robin portion of the tournament with a 5-0 record. Liger had wins over Chris
Candido and former WCW star Silver King.
Tanaka advanced to the finals on the strength of his 4-1 record in the round robin, finishing in first place in Block B with eight points.
Considered one of the most prestigious events on the Japanese wrestling calendar, the Best of Super Juniors tournament has a reputation of providing match-of-the-year
candidates every year in its 12-year existence.
Current WWF stars Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero are the only foreigners to have ever won the tournament. Past competitors have included Chris Jericho, Owen Hart, Jerry
Lynn, Dean Malenko and Brian Pillman.
As a result of his win, Liger is expected to face Tanaka at New Japan's Sapporo Dome show on July 20th for the I.W.G.P. Junior Heavyweight title.
