10 Wrestling Geniuses you probably didn't know about

#5 Jushin 'Thunder' Liger

This legendary cruiserweight is also a genius booker

While most fans know Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger for his legendary in-ring work as a cruiserweight and his massive impact on the wrestling industry, few people actually know about Liger’s intelligence and skills as a booker.

It was Liger that conceived and booked the Super J Cup, a one-night tournament composed of junior heavyweight wrestlers from around the world, with the end goal of making all of them look as impressive as possible in a single night. This was a daunting task, but Liger managed to pull it off to perfection.

The original Super J Cup, which was held in 1994 and was won by Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit), was one of the most critically-acclaimed shows in wrestling history. In fact, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer called that inaugural tournament “the most incredible single night of wrestling ever’.

Keep in mind this was in 1994, which was a year that hosted, among other things, the first-ever official 6-star match between Misawa and Kawada in All Japan, and that outstanding Ladder Match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon. So for Liger’s show to get such high praise speaks volumes of how smart he was as a booker and as a wrestler.