Minoru Suzuki

Real name: Minoru Suzuki
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 220 lbs.
Date of birth: July 17, 1968
Hometown: Yokohama, Japan
Pro debut: June 23, 1988
Trained by: Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Finishing move: Gotch-Style Piledriver

Biography

– In his debut match, Suzuki was defeated by Takashi Iizuka
– On October 22, 1988, Suzuki picked up his first professional victory, defeating Iizuka
– In April 1989, Suzuki left New Japan for the UWF, preferring the MMA style
– Between 1993 and 2003, Suzuki wrestled only one match, defeating Christopher Dewaver at an independent show
– On May 13, 1995, Suzuki defeated Ken Shamrock to win the Pancrase Openweight Title
– In June 2003, Suzuki returned to New Japan
– On February 1, 2004, Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On March 28, 2004, Suzuki & Takayama defeated Genichiro Tenryu & Manabu Nakanishi to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On May 3, 2004, Suzuki & Takayama defeated Kazunari Murakami & Masahiro Chono to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On July 10, 2004, Suzuki & Takayama defeated Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– On July 19, 2004, Suzuki & Takayama defeated Jushin Liger & Kensuke Sasaki to retain the IWGP Tag Team Titles
– In April 2005, Suzuki left New Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH, though would continue to make semi-regular appearances for the promotion
– On June 18, 2005, Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji defeated Scorpio & Doug Williams to win the GHC Tag Team Titles
– On July 18, 2005, Suzuki & Marufuji defeated Jun Akiyama & Makoto Hashi to retain the GHC Tag Team Titles
– On September 11, 2005, Suzuki & Marufuji defeated Akitoshi Saito & Takashi Sugiura to retain the GHC Tag Team Titles
– On September 3, 2006, Suzuki defeated Taiyo Kea to win the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On October 29, 2006, Suzuki defeated RO’Z to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On January 4, 2007, Suzuki defeated Yuji Nagata to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On February 17, 2007, Suzuki defeated Satoshi Kojima to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On April 30, 2007, Suzuki defeated Tajiri to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– In May 2007, Suzuki made a number of appearances in Mexico
– On July 1, 2007, Suzuki defeated Keiji Muto to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On June 28, 2008, Suzuki & Taiyo Kea defeated Joe Doering & Keiji Mutoh to win the AJPW Unified Tag Team Titles
– On August 3, 2008, Suzuki & Kea defeated Osamu Nishimura & SUWAMA to retain the AJPW Unified Tag Team Titles
– On October 11, 2008, Suzuki & Kea defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima to retain the AJPW Unified Tag Team Titles
– On January 3, 2009, Suzuki & NOSAWA Rongai defeated Osamu Nishimura & Masanobu Fuchi in the final of a tournament to win the vacant AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– On March 1, 2009, Suzuki & Rongai defeated KAI & Satoshi Kojima to retain the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– On March 14, 2009, Suzuki * Kea defeated Shuji Kondo & SUWAMA to retain the AJPW Unified Tag Team Titles
– On April 12, 2009, Suzuki defeated Kaz Hayashi to win the AJPW Champion’s Carnival
– On July 5, 2009, Suzuki & Kea defeated Keiji Muto & Masayuki Kono to retain the AJPW Unified Tag Team Titles
– On August 22, 2009, Suzuki & Rongai defeated Manabu Soya & Osamu Nishimura to retain the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– On January 22, 2010, Suzuki defeated NOSAWA Rongai & Osamu Nishimura to win the Kokomi Sakura Cup. He had previously defeated Akebono & Masayuki Kono to make the final
– On April 11, 2010, Suzuki defeated Masakatsu Funaki to win the AJPW Champion’s Carnival for the second year in succession
– On May 2, 2010, Suzuki defeated Ryota Hama to win the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On July 4, 2010, Suzuki defeated Masayuki Kono to retain the AJPW Triple Crown Title
– On November 6, 2011, Suzuki & Lance Archer defeated Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson) to win the G1 Climax Tag League
– At NJPW New Beginning ’12, Suzuki, Archer, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yoshihiro Takayama defeated Wataru Inoue, Yuji Nagata, KUSHIDA, Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe in an Elimination Match
– At Wrestling Dontaku ’12, Suzuki & Takayama defeated Togi Makabe & Yuji Nagata
– At Destruction ’12, Suzuki, Lance Archer & Harry Smith defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata
– At Power Struggle ’12, Suzuki & Taichi defeated Yuji Nagata & Ryusuke Taguchi
– At The New Beginning ’13, Suzuki defeated Kazuchika Okada
– At NJPW Invasion Attack ’13, Suzuki defeated Toru Yano
– At NJPW Dominion ’13, Suzuki & Shelton Benjamin defeated CHAOS (Shinsuke Nakamura & Tomohiro Ishii)
– At King of Pro Wrestling ’13, Suzuki defeated Toru Yano
– At NJPW’s New Beginning ’14 double-header, Suzuki defeated Tama Tonga, then teamed with Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr to defeat The Bullet Club (Tonga, Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson)
– At NJPW Dominion ’14, Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka defeated Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano
– At Wrestle Kingdom 9, Suzuki defeated Kazushi Sakuraba in a UWFi Rules Match
– In mid-January 2015, Suzuki jumped to Pro Wrestling NOAH
– On March 15, 2015, Suzuki defeated Naomichi Marufuji to win the GHC Heavyweight Title
– On May 10, 2015, Suzuki defeated Marufuji to retain the GHC Heavyweight Title
– On June 15, 2015, Suzuki defeated Maybach Taniguchi to retain the GHC Heavyweight Title
– On July 18, 2015, Suzuki defeated Yoshihiro Takayama to retain the GHC Heavyweight Title
– On September 19, 2015, Suzuki defeated Takashi Sugiura to retain the GHC Heavyweight Title
– Suzuki won the 2016 NOAH Global League, defeating Masa Kitamiya in the final
– On January 5, 2017, the entire Suzuki-gun stable returned to New Japan, with Suzuki himself attacking IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada
– On April 27, Suzuki defeated Hirooki Goto to win the NEVER Openweight Title
– At Dominion ’17, Suzuki defeated Goto in a Lumberjack Death Match to retain the NEVER Openweight Title
– At Kizuna Road ’17, Suzuki defeated YOSHI-HASHI to retain the NEVER Openweight Title
– On September 10, Suzuki defeated Michael Elgin in a Lumberjack Death Match to retain the NEVER Openweight Title
– At Power Struggle ’17, Suzuki defeated Toru Yano in a Bullrope Match to retain the NEVER Openweight Title
– On January 20, 2018, Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr defeated Trent Seven & Tyler Bate to win the RevPro British Tag Team Titles
– A week later, Suzuki defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the IWGP Intercontinental Title
– At NJPW’s 46th Anniversary Show, Suzuki defeated Togi Makabe to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Title
– At Sakura Genesis ’18, Suzuki-gun (Suzuki, Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & SANADA)
– On May 11, Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr defeated CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks) to retain the RevPro British Tag Team Titles
– At Dominion ’18, Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr defeated Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano
– Suzuki’s 30th Anniversary show was held over two days in June 2018
– On June 30, Suzuki-gun (Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr) defeated CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii) to retain the RevPro British Tag Team Titles
– The next day, Suzuki defeated Ishii to win the RevPro British Heavyweight Title
– At OTT’s 4th Anniversary Show in Dublin, Ireland, Suzuki defeated Timothy Thatcher
– At RevPro’s Uprising event, Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr) defeated Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) to retain the RevPro Tag Team Titles
– At King Of Pro Wrestling 2019, Suzuki defeated Jushin Liger
– At Wrestle Kingdom 14, Suzuki-gun (Suzuki, El Desperado, Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, EVIL & SANADA)
– On August 29, 2020, Suzuki defeated Shingo Takagi to win the NEVER Openweight Title
– At Wrestle Kingdom 16, Suzuki defeated Chase Owens, Toru Yano & CIMA to win the vacant King Of Pro Wrestling Title
– At Supercard Of Honor 2022, Suzuki defeated Rhett Titus to win the ROH Television Title
– At AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door, Suzuki, Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara defeated Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta & Shota Umino
– At Konosuke Takeshita’s 10th Anniversary Show, Suzuki & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Shinya Aoki & HARASHIMA
– At TAKA Michinoku’s 30th Anniversary Show, Suzuki-gun (Suzuki, TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI) defeated Hikaru Sato, Genta Yubari, Hideki Sekine & Akira Jumonji
– At the 2022 NJPW Halloween Special, Suzuki defeated Tracy Williams
– At Rumble On 44th Street, Suzuki defeated Clark Connors
– At JTO’s 50th Anniversary Show, Suzuki-gun (Suzuki & DOUKI) defeated UNCHAIN (Jun Kasai & Tomoaki Honma)
– Suzuki disbanded the Suzuki-gun stable at the end of 2022
– At The New Beginning in Nagoya 2023, Suzuki, El Desperado, Tomoaki Honma & Ren Narita defeated House of Torture (Yujiro Takahashi, Dick Togo, EVIL & SHO)
– At The New Beginning in Osaka 2023, Suzuki, El Desperado & Ren Narita defeated House of Torture (Yujiro Takahashi, EVIL & SHO) to win the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Titles
– At NJPW’s 51st Anniversary Special, Strong Style (Suzuki, El Desperado & Ren Narita) defeated House Of Torture (EVIL, SHO & Dick Togo)
– On April 3, 2023, Strong Style defeated House Of Torture (EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) in a No Countouts Match to retain the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Titles
– At Sakura Genesis 2023, Suzuki, Great O-Khan & Toru Yano defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, El Desperado & YOH
– At the 2023 All Together Again event, Suzuki, El Desperado & Ren Narita defeated Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura & Junta Miyawaki
– At MLW Slaughterhouse 2023, Suzuki defeated Jacob Fatu
– In February 2024, having been absent from the company all year to that point, Suzuki announced that he was leaving NJPW, though would be open to appearing with the company as a freelancer
– On February 19, Suzuki, Kengo & YASSHI defeated Daichi Hashimoto, Kazuki Hashimoto & Hideyoshi Kamitani to win the Tenryu Project Six Man Tag Team Titles
– At TJPW’s Grand Princesss 2024, Suzuki defeated Maki Ito
– At Bloodsport X, Suzuki defeated Royce Isaacs by knockout
– On May 20, Suzuki, Kengo & YASSHI defeated Kuma Arashi, Jun Masaoka & GAINA to retain the Tenryu Project Six Man Tag Team Titles
– On July 6, Suzuki, Kengo & YASSHI fought Tomohiro Ishii, Don Fujii & Yuji Hino to a no-contest to retain the Tenryu Project Six Man Tag Team Titles