Minoru Suzuki

 ( 1968 Births ) 

At the third Pancrase event in November 1993, Suzuki had his debut in kickboxing rules against American champion Maurice Smith, in a rematch of a "different style fight" celebrated back in UWF where Smith defeated Suzuki. Naturally outclassed, Minoru was knocked down several times and finished shortly after. He had a third match with Smith in May 1994, this time under a special ruleset: the first and the third round would be fought wearing kickboxing gloves, the second and fourth without them and the fifth under a combination of the two. Suzuki finally got his revenge, submitting Smith at the third round with an armbar despite the disadvantage of the gloves.

Despite his significant size disadvantage against most competitors, Suzuki became one of the most successful fighters in Pancrase. He amassed a 7-0 winning streak, including a huge upset win over Pancrase's top fighter Ken Shamrock, who had already defeated Masakatsu Funaki in the first main event of the company. During the match, celebrated in January 1994, the two fighters traded positions, with Suzuki getting overpowered by the stronger Shamrock, but he was able to turn Ken over and initiate a leglock attack. The Japanese fighter locked a heel hook, which Ken looked to reverse, but at that moment Suzuki transitioned it into a kneebar and extended his leg further. Shamrock reached for a rope escape as the Pancrase ruleset stipulated, but he was gravely injured by the hold and couldn't continue, thus losing the match. However, the bout was not without controversy. Ken Shamrock would claim years after that he had been asked not to injure Suzuki during the match, as he was already affected by a back injury, and that he had accepted only to find himself deliberately injured himself by Suzuki in return.

Suzuki did not lose a match until he lost to Bas Rutten via Liver shot KO due to a knee to the body. In 1995, he won the King of Pancrase (now KOP Open-Weight) title to become the second ever King of Pancrase. Suzuki twice defeated Shamrock and is the only man to hold two wins over Shamrock in the Pancrase era.

Over time, Suzuki's body became damaged and worn down from various injuries and resulted in his skills diminishing. He then decided to focus on the business and training side of Pancrase. He collaborated with the Tekken series of fighting game as a motion actor for the character King. His last non-worked fight for Pancrase was against a professional wrestler, Jushin Thunder Liger (who replaced his original opponent, Kensuke Sasaki, due to injury), whom Suzuki had known under his real name Keiichi Yamada in his first NJPW stint. At the time he competed in grappling matches almost exclusively. Suzuki witnessed the transition Pancrase made from the so-called "hybrid wrestling" style to that of regular MMA and was instrumental in paving the way for mixed martial arts in Japan.

At the All Japan Fan Appreciation Day on December 16, 2007, the Mexico Amigos teamed with "Ray Suzuki" and defeated Ryuji Hijikata, Kikutaro, Tetsuya Bushi and Ryuji Yamaguchi. After the match, Ray Suzuki revealed himself as Minoru Suzuki and vowed that El Nosawa Mendoza would throw his Amigos tights away and return as Nosawa Rongai, and then kidnapped him to start early training.

On March 1, 2008, Minoru Suzuki made an appearance at the Dory Funk Jr. retirement show, providing commentary for the Triple Crown Championship main event (between Kensuke Sasaki and Satoshi Kojima), as well as pledging to participate in the upcoming Champion Carnival. From April 5 to 9, Suzuki competed in Block B of All Japan's annual Champion Carnival, finishing the league with 2 wins (over Kensuke Sasaki and Kohei Suwama) and 2 losses (to Osamu Nishimura and Joe Doering), as well as teaming with Takemura to defeat Toshiaki Kawada and Nobutaka Araya on Day 2 (April 6) of the Carnival. During the Hold Out tour, Suzuki confronted a Taiyo Kea, who was on a losing streak at the time, about joining Suzuki's stable Gurentai (alongside Nosawa, Mazada and Takemura), which resulted in Kea joining and focusing on winning the tag titles with Suzuki. On June 28, 2008, Suzuki and Kea won the World Tag Team Championship from Joe Doering and Keiji Mutoh. On September 28, 2008, he attacked The Great Muta after Muta had successfully defeated Suwama for the Triple Crown Championship, setting up a match between the two in which he lost on November 3, 2008.

On January 3, 2009, Suzuki and stablemate Nosawa Rongai won the restored All Asia Tag Team Championship, over the course of a two-day tournament. Later in the year, Suzuki won the 2009 Champion Carnival beating Kaz Hayashi in the finals. He would end up challenging the then Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, Yoshihiro Takayama, on May 30, 2009, albeit in a losing effort. On September 23, 2009, Suzuki and NOSAWA lost the All Asia Tag Team Championship at the hands of Akebono and Ryota Hama. On January 3, 2010, Suzuki and Kea lost the World Tag Team Championship at the hands of Masakatsu Funaki and Keiji Mutoh.

On March 21, 2010, Suzuki lost to long-time rival Masakatsu Funaki in All Japan's first cage match. Suzuki then entered the Champion Carnival and won it for the second straight year, being the third man to do so by beating Funaki in the final – weeks removed from their cage match. After the final, Suzuki buried the hatchet with Funaki by shaking his hand, thus ending the decade-long rivalry. Suzuki then declared his Gurentai stable on hiatus. As a result of his Champion Carnival victory, Suzuki earned a Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship match versus Ryota Hama on May 2. In the match, Suzuki defeated Hama to claim his second Triple Crown championship. He would go on to lose the title to Suwama on August 29, 2010.

On February 12 at The New Beginning, Suzuki led Lance Archer, Taichi, Taka Michinoku and Yoshihiro Takayama of the Suzuki-gun to a dominant 5–1 win over Kushida, Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue and Yuji Nagata in a ten-man elimination tag team match. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2012, Suzuki pinned Makabe in a tag team match, where he and Takayama faced Makabe and Yuji Nagata. The feud between Suzuki and Makabe ended on June 16 at Dominion 6.16, where Suzuki was defeated in a singles match. In August, Suzuki took part in the 2012 G1 Climax tournament, where he picked up big wins over IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and former tag team partner Naomichi Marufuji, but was eliminated after losing to Yuji Nagata in his final round-robin match on August 12. On October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Suzuki received a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by Tanahashi. The match received rave reviews, including a five-star rating from Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer. From November 20 to December 1, Suzuki took part in the round-robin portion of the 2012 World Tag League, alongside Suzuki-gun's newest member Kengo Mashimo. The team finished with a record of three wins and three losses, failing to advance from their block. On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome, Suzuki and Yuji Nagata once again reignited their old rivalry in a singles match, where Nagata was victorious. Afterwards, Suzuki led Suzuki-gun to a war with New Japan's other villainous stable, Chaos, which built to a singles match on February 10 at The New Beginning, where he defeated Kazuchika Okada. On March 11, Suzuki entered the 2013 New Japan Cup, defeating Yuji Nagata in yet another match between the old rivals. Six days later, Suzuki was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Chaos member Toru Yano. Suzuki avenged his loss to Yano by defeating him in a rematch on April 7 at Invasion Attack and, later that same event, confronted new IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, accepting a title shot offered to him by Okada's mouthpiece, Gedo. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013, Suzuki unsuccessfully challenged Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Suzuki then got involved in a heated rivalry with Chaos member Tomohiro Ishii, which built to a singles match between the two on July 20 at the Kizuna Road 2013 pay-per-view, where Suzuki was victorious.

From August 1 to 11, Suzuki took part in the 2013 G1 Climax. After five wins and three losses, Suzuki went into the final day leading his block, but a loss to Toru Yano cost him a spot in the finals of the tournament. This led to a feud between Suzuki and Yano, however, Suzuki's attempt to avenge the loss led to another defeat on September 29, when he was counted out after being handcuffed to a ringside guard rail by Yano. Suzuki finally gained his revenge on Yano by defeating him on October 14 at King of Pro-Wrestling. Afterwards, Suzuki set his sights on the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, while also trying to convince champion Shinsuke Nakamura to leave Chaos and join Suzuki-gun. The match between Suzuki and Nakamura took place on November 9 at Power Struggle and saw Nakamura retain his title. From November 24 to December 7, Suzuki teamed with Suzuki-gun's newest member, Shelton Benjamin, in the 2013 World Tag League, where they finished with a record of three wins and three losses, with a loss against Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano on the final day costing them a spot in the semifinals. The rivalry between Suzuki and Yano led to a match on January 4, 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, where Suzuki and Benjamin were defeated by Yano and The Great Muta, with Yano pinning Suzuki, after he was blinded by a green mist from Muta. Suzuki finally got his win over Yano on March 15 in the first round of the 2014 New Japan Cup. Suzuki eventually made it to the semifinals of the tournament, before losing to Shinsuke Nakamura. On May 25 at Back to the Yokohama Arena, Suzuki got another win over Yano, when Takashi Iizuka turned on him during a tag team match and joined Suzuki-gun. From July 21 to August 8, Suzuki took part in the 2014 G1 Climax, where he finished fourth in his block with a record of five wins and five losses. Following the tournament, Suzuki transitioned into a new rivalry with Kazushi Sakuraba, who had come to Yano's aid after Iizuka had turned on him. The rivalry culminated in a match on January 4, 2015, at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome, where Suzuki defeated Sakuraba.

Through a partnership between NJPW and the American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion, Suzuki made his first appearance in the United States for 25 years on September 22, 2017, when he unsuccessfully challenged Cody Rhodes for the ROH World Championship at Death Before Dishonor XV. At the following day's Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, Suzuki teamed with the Beer City Bruiser and Silas Young to unsuccessfully challenge The Hung Bucks (Adam Page, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship.

On January 4, 2018, at Wrestle Kingdom 12, Suzuki lost the NEVER Openweight Championship to Hirooki Goto in a Hair vs. Hair match and had to have his head shaved bald as a result, choosing to shave his own hair in front of the live audience; his reign ended at 252 days with four successful defenses. Suzuki would quickly rebound from the loss, defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi at the New Beginning in Sapporo on January 27 to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. On April 29, at Wrestling Hi no Kuni in Kumamoto, Suzuki would lose the Intercontinental Championship to Tetsuya Naito. Suzuki then competed in the 2018 G1 Climax, where he finished with a record of five wins and four losses with an upset loss to Adam Page costing him a chance to make it to the finals. between November and December 2018, Suzuki and Takashi Iizuka entered the 2018 World Tag League, where they finished with a record of 5 wins and 8 losses, failing to advance to the finals.

On January 5, 2019, Suzuki and Suzuki-Gun Stablemate Zack Sabre Jr challenged newly crowned IWGP tag team champions Takaaki Watanabe and Seiya Sanada to a match for their titles at New Beginning in Sapporo, which they were unsuccessful in doing so. Suzuki entered the 2019 New Japan Cup, where he defeated Satoshi Kojima in the first round, but was eliminated by Sanada in the second round. On August 31, 2019, Suzuki faced Kazuchika Okada at New Japan's Royal Quest event, where he lost in the main event. Suzuki and IWGP United States Champion Lance Archer entered the 2019 World Tag League, where they finished with a record of 9 wins and 6 losses, failing to advance to the finals.

At Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 5, 2020, Suzuki confronted Jon Moxley who had just successfully retained the IWGP United States Championship against Juice Robinson and would incapacitate Moxley with the "Gotch-Style Piledriver". On January 7, a match was arranged for the United States Championship between Suzuki and Moxley at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 9, where Suzuki lost.

On August 29, 2020, at Summer Struggle in Jingu, Suzuki defeated Shingo Takagi to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for a second time. From September 19 until October 13, Suzuki took part in the G1 Climax 30, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and six losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. On November 7 at Power Struggle (2020), Suzuki lost the NEVER Openweight Championship back to Shingo Takagi. At Wrestle Kingdom 15 on January 4, 2021, Suzuki competed in the New Japan Rambo, but failed to last til the final 4.

In March, Suzuki competed in the New Japan Cup, defeating Tomoaki Honma in the first round, but was eliminated by Kenta Kobayashi in round 2. In July at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome, Suzuki competed for the Provisional KOPW 2021 trophy, in a 22 Man New Japan Rambo match, but the match was won by Chase Owens. On September 25, Suzuki made his debut for NJPW's American show, NJPW Strong, defeating Fred Rosser. The following month on NJPW Strong, Suzuki reunited with Lance Archer to defeat the team of Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston in a Philadelphia street fight. In November, Suzuki reunited with Taka Michinoku to team for the World Tag League, although the team finished bottom of the block with 0 points, failing to win a single match. On January 4, 2022, on night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 16, Suzuki once again competed in the New Japan Rambo, this time lasting till the final 4. On Night 2, Suzuki defeated Toru Yano, Chase Owens and Cima, to win the Provisional 2022 KOPW trophy. On Night 3, Suzuki-gun lost to Pro Wrestling Noah's Sugiura-gun (Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba) and Toru Yano.

In February during the NJPW New Years Golden Series, Suzuki lost the Provisional KOPW 2022 trophy to Toru Yano in a Dog Cage match. The following month, Suzuki competed in the New Japan Cup, receiving a bye to the second round, but lost to Hiromu Takahashi. On April 1 at Lonestar Shootout, Suzuki defeated Karrion Kross. In April at Windy City Riot, Suzuki faced Tomohiro Ishii in a losing effort. The following month at Capital Collision, Suzuki lost to Brody King. In June at , Suzuki teamed with Jericho Appreciation Society members, Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara to defeat the team of Wheeler Yuta, Shota Umino and Eddie Kingston. In November, Suzuki teamed with Lance Archer for the 2022 World Tag League, finishing with 8 points, failing to advance to the finals. At the World Tag League and Super Junior Tag League finals, Suzuki announced that Suzuki-gun will disband at the end of 2022. The factions final match took place on December 23, where the team of Douki, Kanemaru, Sabre, and Taichi defeated Archer, Desperado, Michinoku, and Suzuki. After the match, all members spoke about their memories as a part of the group and thanked Suzuki. The night ended with all members posing with the Suzuki-gun flag, only to be interrupted by former member Takashi Iizuka, causing all 9 men to pose in the ring, behind the Suzuki-gun flag.

On June 1, 2024, at Battle Riot VI, Suzuki joined the Contra Unit teaming with Mads Krule Krügger and Ikuro Kwon to defeat Satoshi Kojima, Matt Riddle, and Akira in a six-man tag team match. Suzuki and Kwon would then defeat CozyMax to win the MLW World Tag Team Championships at Summer of the Beasts on August 29. At One Shot on December 5, Kwon and Suzuki lost the MLW World Tag Team Championship back to CozyMax.