Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Sweet Brown Sugar WCW Prime 12-25-1995
Within 24 hours Tom Brady played his final game for the Patriots and Jushin Liger retired.
At first glance , there isn't much of a comparison. For most people, you have to look pretty hard to find the similarities between them. But for me it seems obvious. It's because I'm a weirdo. Both of them had been around so long in my life that to have them out of it was, well it didn't seem possible. Tom Brady became a starting quarterback for the Patriots when I was in the 8th grade. By the time he left I was 32. That meant that for more than half of my entire life, Tom Brady was a constant. Not only a constant, but a constant source of positivity. Sports are inherently silly, but when you're having a rough day and then Tom Brady comes out and destroys another team....you can go...well at least I'm not those guys. Obviously it's different because Brady is still around the league, but it's not the same. A lot of people around here are trying to pretend that they're rooting for Brady just as much , but it's self delusional. He's gone man. He left us. Just move on. On January 4th 2020 he played his last game as a New England Patriot, and set forth to ugh...Tampa.
My time with Jushin Liger dates further back than it does with Tom Brady. You have wrestlers as a kid you just gravitate towards and Jushin Liger was definitely one of mine. His runs in the state weren't long, but I would get so excited whenever he showed up on TV. I mean, it's pretty obvious as to why. There was never a cooler looking wrestler than Jushin Liger. He was a Mighty Morphing Power Rangers character come to life. When we finally got a dog for the first time I VEHEMENTLY fought to call him Jushin or Liger. I did not win the battle for naming rights. Jushin Liger is what finally got me into ROH and then eventually indie wrestling. He came to America for one weekend in 2004 and I basically bullied my father into taking me. I fell in love with ROH at that show, but Liger is the one that got me in the door. To me, Liger was going to just always be around. I could never envision him retiring. At that point, Liger was like the fucking electric company....just a thing that would always be there. But on January 5th 2020, he retired. Within 24 hours I lost two of the Goats. It left me feeling like Gotye staring at Goatse. Just thinking....I don't care for this.
Thank god for YouTube man. Not only because it's the only reason this blog exists, but because it's nostalgia. With Tom Brady, I know all the games and so it's just a trip down memory lane. I've basically seen all his games, it's just a matter of watching them with The Titanic music underneath it now . With Jushin Liger, that's where it gets fun. Due to his long career, there are not only matches I've never seen but ones I've never heard existed. Case in point, his WCW Prime match with Sweet Brown Sugar.
This is from the Christmas edition of WCW Prime which are slowly becoming my favorite entries on here. Not only was it a fairly obscure show, but you get Chris Cruise and Dusty Rhodes on commentary. Unfiltered Dusty is the best, and Chris Cruise is a good foil. This is back before Chris became a professional Karen to the Maryland State Athletic Commission. This match is the build up to the New Japan vs WCW World Cup PPV at Starcade 95, a best of seven between the two companies. It's hard to believe WCW ever did a PPV that was 50 percent foreign talent. Not because it was a bad idea, but because they lost a racial discrimination lawsuit against people that never even worked there. Liger's opponent is Sweet Brown Sugar, also known as Skip Brown. According to Wikipedia, Sweet Brown Sugar is an older gentleman of about 44 years old here. Sugar is a former Florida Championship Wrestling champion so I'm assuming this is Dusty bringing him in. Sweet Brown Sugar moves deceptively well for a man his age. He actually does something unique I really like, as Liger hits the ropes he does a dropdown but when Liger comes back he does a dropdown on his back. It's a simple change, but it's really really cool. Liger hits a dropkick that sends Sugar out of the ring, before a big dive. The camera was positioned so well that Liger's dive comes out of absolutely nowhere. Little bit of a botch when a Liger clothesline gets reversed and Sugar punches him in the stomach. Sugar into the turnbuckle, but leaps over Liger and hits the other turnbuckle to hit a second rope crossbody. Knowing Sugar is 44 makes this all the more impressive, but what isn't impressive is Liger's roll through. It looks real bad. Even Brady didn't make every pass guys. Lots of miscommunication in this match as stuff just isn't always looking right. Sugar hits a dropkick, excuse me...Sugar jumps up and sorta hits him with his knees and I'm just assuming it was intended as a dropkick. Liger counters the next one and then climbs the top rope and delivers a diving headbutt for the win. Apparently it's to send a message to his next opponent Chris Benoit. Oh god. No, I don't know if I'll ever cover him
It's not great, but like a lot of things here it's kind of worth it for the strangeness of it all. Sweet Brown Sugar was impressive until halfway through where it started falling apart. It is very fun to see Liger in this type of match, as he seemed to know how to have a squash match. Of course he did, he's Jushin Fucking Liger. So raise a glass folks to Jushin Liger and Tom Brady, two of the greats.
And kinda sorta Fuck Bill Belicheck
TLDR Review
I miss Jushin Liger. I Miss Tom Brady. I missed out on Sweet Brown Sugar
If you're interested in more condensed version of my thoughts, You can check out my Twitter where I talk about wrestling or stress out during Boston Celtics games. Hell, I'll even take suggestions for matches you want to see reviewed. You can also check out my Youtube where I make weird videos where I put on wigs in front of a camera to mask my true identity.