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 Title History:
IWGP Tag Team Title (1):
King of Pancrase Openweight Title (1):
Tournament History: None won.
Signature Moves:
- Gotch-style piledriver
Profile: Minoru Suzuki pursued amaresu during his high school days, acquiring skills that would assist him throughout his career. In March, 1987, Suzuki was initiated into New Japan, and debuted the following June against Takayuki Iizuka. He attracted great attention, and was seen as one of New Japan's greatest prospects. He was blessed with the chance of having a singles match against Antonio Inoki barely two years into his career, and expectations were high. However, when Akira Maeda reformed UWF that same year (1989), Suzuki jumped ship with him, and became a top young star there. After UWF's demise and a stint with Fujiwara-gumi, Suzuki started Pancrase with fellow New Japan trueborn Masakatsu Funaki. Pancrase would continue to evolve the "new" form of pro wrestling created by Maeda and UWF, and would help pave the way for the mixed martial arts boom led by PRIDE some years later. Suzuki reigned as the second King of Pancrase Openweight Champion in 1995, defeating Ken Shamrock to win the title. Throughout the 1990s, he was one of the world's top stars in what would become mixed martial arts, boasting a great record before retiring due to injuries. His last fight in Pancrase was against New Japan junior legend, Jushin Thunder Liger, and Suzuki won quite easily. In April, 2003, Suzuki showed up in his old haunt, New Japan, advertising his return, and he defeated Masayuki Naruse in his first match that June. He became a serious threat quickly in New Japan, piling up the wins, before suffering his first high profile losses to Yoshihiro Takayama and Yuji Nagata. Not put off by those defeats, he persisted, and continued to achieve good results, capturing the IWGP Tag Team Title with Takayama in February, 2004. Soon after that, he became a regular for New Japan, touring for the year, before returning more to his freelance ways the following year. One of the pioneers of Japanese fighting culture in the 1990s, Suzuki insists that he is an "original" pro wrestler, and seeks to bring back the forgotten Strong Style, the pro wrestling that was strong. With his cocky, foul attitude and unorthodox way of wrestling, Suzuki's style is one of a kind.
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