6) Owen Hart
The late, great Owen Hart wrestled some matches for New Japan Pro Wrestling in the late 1980’s into the early 1990’s.
In 1988, Owen defeated Hiroshi Hase to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title at an event in Sendai, Japan. Owen wrestled names like the Great Muta and Jushin Thunder Liger for the promotion.
Here is a photo of Owen wearing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title:
On this day (May 27 1988) Stampede Wrestler Owen Hart won the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship from long time rival, and former Stampede alumni Hiro Hase. Owen was the first ever non Japanese to win the Championship up to that point in history. pic.twitter.com/XmvmIGqcQy
— DwayneSoper (@DwayneSoper) May 27, 2018
5) Randy Savage
You might not know that Macho Man Randy Savage wrestled several matches for New Japan Pro Wrestling. This included a match against Jushin Thunder Liger in 1996.
According to purocentral.com, here are the matches that Savage wrestled for NJPW
– April 13th, 1990 at the WWF/All Japan/New Japan Wrestling Summit: Randy Savage vs. Genichiro Tenryu
– April 29th, 1996 in New Japan: Randy Savage vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
– July 16th, 1996 in New Japan: Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair
– July 17th, 1996 in New Japan: Randy Savage vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
– January 4th, 2000 in New Japan: Randy Savage vs. Rick Steiner
Here is a photo of Savage vs Liger:
Liger vs Savage at NJPW Summer Struggle.July 17,1996 pic.twitter.com/olObZC4cXL
— Rasslin’ History 101 (@WrestlingIsKing) August 26, 2017
4) Ric Flair
Ric Flair wrestled all over the world in his career. This included New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Flair actually competed in the 1995 G1 Climax. Flair was beat out of the tournament by Keiji Mutoh, who would go on to win it all. Flair also challenged Shinya Hashimoto for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in 1996 but was unsuccessful.
Here is a photo of Ric Flair about to face Antonio Inoki at the Collision in Korea. This was an event co-promoted by NJPW and WCW.
About to watch Ric Flair vs Antonio Inoki fight for the heart and seoul of North Korea #njpw #njworld pic.twitter.com/iShoIXQmNH
— The Orca (@TheOrcaWrestles) April 10, 2017
Use the buttons below for more WWE legends who have wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Legend 16: Mike Rotunda. He wrestled in NJPW from ’97 to ’99
Scott Hall Bugged Out With The Caption For That Picture