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Anime-inspired Pro Wrestler Jushin "Thunder" Liger Inducted Into 2020 WWE Hall of Fame

Jushin "Thunder" Liger, a Japanese professional wrestler whose persona is based on the Jūshin Liger anime series, has been formally inducted the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020 during the professional wrestling promotion's induction ceremony on April 6. FOX Sports welcomed the induction with the following tweet:

Jushin Liger was not in attendance during the taping of the ceremony, and accepted his induction with a video. "I am excited. I have goosebumps all over me. And this is the first time I've been so nervous to speak," the wrestler remarked in his emotional acceptance speech. He also expressed his gratitude to the WWE for the honor, and thanked fans for their support. You can check out the full acceptance speech below:

Jushin Liger began his wrestling career under his real name Keiichi Yamada in 1984, and adopted the ring name of Jushin Liger in 1989. He is best known for his three-and-half-decade tenure in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), and is a former 11-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. He had sporadic appearances in the American promotion WCW throughout the 1990s, and made his WWE debut in 2015. In their announcement of Jushin Liger's Hall of Fame induction, the WWE recognized the wrestler as "one of the most revolutionary competitors in sports-entertainment history".

Jūshin Liger, also known, as Bio Armor Ryger, is a 43-episode anime series created by Gō Nagai that aired in Japan from 1989 to 1990. The series also inspired the live-action tokusatsu film Jushin Thunder Liger: Fist of Thunder in 1995, starring the namesake wrestler himself.

Sources: WWE, 411mania, Online World of Wrestling