Minoru Suzuki

[Childs]

I've noticed a perception among some that Minoru Suzuki's recent MOTYC performances against Hiroshi Tanahashi and A.J. Styles came out of nowhere after a relatively undistinguished career as midcarder. But I actually think Suzuki is one of the more fascinating workers out there. He was a world-class amateur and a key member of the second generation of shoot style workers. Then he left for a whole decade to fight in Pancrase, where he was a top star and a guy put over as a genuinely dangerous grappler by the Shamrocks, Bas Rutten, etc. He returned to pro wrestling in 2003 with wilder hair and a devilish smirk, and in the 11 years since, he's managed significant runs in New Japan, All Japan and NOAH, with scattered appearances in just about every Japanese indy. I love watching the guy, but honestly, I'm not even sure how good he's been. So I'm going to explore matches from all phases of his career. Any suggestions for overlooked or interesting specimens would be most appreciated.

 

I'll start with a match I just watched for Ditch's "Best of the 2000s" project:

 

Minoru Suzuki vs. Keiji Mutoh, All Japan 7/1/07

 

Suzuki, defending his Triple Crown title, showed up with his topknot bleached and a white trunks-boots ensemble that made him look like a demonic baby. They started on the mat, with some decent work that was hurt only by the incongruity of a 44-year-old Mutoh wrestling evenly with a former world-class grappler. Suzuki took the match to the outside, where Mutoh gained the first real advantage with a dragon screw on the apron. As old-man highspots go, I liked Mutoh's dropkick from the timekeeper's table onto Suzuki's leg.

 

Suzuki did a nice job selling Mutoh's legwork, alternating between mocking tongue wags and real expressions of agony. Nifty transition spot where he caught Mutoh with an octopus on the top turnbuckle. Then he continued to sell on offense, hobbling around and using his left leg for kicks instead of his damaged right. Mutoh shook off Suzuki's sleeper a little too easily and transitioned directly to a series of ugly shining wizards. God, he had lost quite a bit athletically, even from 2001. He could barely get his knee to Suzuki's head. Another nifty counter by Suzuki as he squirmed out of an attempted backbreaker directly into a heel hook. Suzuki approached this match kind of like one of his mentors, Fujiwara--working defensively against the bigger striker while probing for openings to throw on one one of his deadly submissions.

 

I loved Suzuki's mocking dragon screw after Mutoh reached the ropes to break the heel hook. Then we got a strong finishing sequence, with Mutoh hitting a desperation dragon screw only to get caught back in the heel hook when he tried another one. And he tapped. That's what you want in a finish--tight, suspenseful, played perfectly off the key notes of the match.

 

Mutoh's physical limitations and spotty selling kept this from being an upper-half selection for the '00s. It lacked the intensity of an elite match. But Suzuki delivered an excellent performance as champion, with expressive selling and creative submission work.

[Phil Schneider]

Here are some PWFG recs

 

Minoru Suzuki vs. Naoki Sano (7/26/91) (33:35)

PAS: Man am I steamed Sano only worked three matches for PWFG as he is fucking gold again. This goes to a draw which keeps it a little below the sublime Sano v. Shamrock match on the second show, but it was incredible. The counters in this were faster then in the Shamrock match, but it was paced similar. __Suzuki was the one brining the pro wrestling here, as he breaks out a nasty piledriver and even tries a dropkick. The dropkick spot was great as he threw it and Sano steps away contemptuously, Suzuki lands bounces up and hit a brutal jumping spin kick into Sano's grill. Suzuki was great here, as he is awesome as a fired up babyface, there is a point where is trying to get a cross armbreaker and he is just chopping at Sano's arm and kicking him in the head in a frenzy to try to get Sano to break his grip. There is a great spot where Sano has on a choke, and Suzuki is slapping his own face to keep himself awake. I loved the draw finish too, as both guys have kneebars on each other and are just twisting the ankles in desperation to try to get the submission before the bell. I clearly need to get more UWFI Sano, as he is truly brilliant in all of his PWFG matches, and I want more shootstyle Sano.

 

 

Wayne Shamrock vs. Minoru Suzuki (9/28/91) (20:42)

PAS: I liked this alot more then their debut show match. Much like the first match, the opening was both guys working for ankle and leg locks and both guys rolling with some nice counters. The stand up and suplexes in this match looked alot better then they did in their first match, and it actually built to the finish well. Suzuki has really fast hands, and landed some really nasty combos. Shamrock official ruled in 1991, and he was throwing hands too. I love how they established Shamrocks dragon suplex as a deadly finisher. Once he hits the dragon, it is lights out, and the dragon he landed here looked like it should end a night.

 

Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Minoru Suzuki PWFG 11/3/91-EPIC

PAS: Fujiwara had been mostly working undercards up to this point, but man does he deliver in a main event spot. Suzuki is your young guy desperate to overtake the veteran ace of the company, and he dominates here, although he is never able to put Fujiwara away. This is really all about Fujiwara as a defensive wrestler, he blocks and eludes and counters and while Suzuki would easily win a decision, there are no judges in PWFG. There are a ton of nifty little things in this match, but I especially loved the way Fujiwara used hand and wrist control. Suzuki is rarely ever able to lock anything in solid, as he is always getting his wrists and hands grabbed and twisted. I am not a big fan of the draw booking, but the finish here was great, Suzuki is getting more and more frustrated, and he and Fujiwara start shit talking at each other, and then at the end they both are working on ankle locks as the bell rings, and Suzuki refuse to let go. Then when he does he is punching the mat in anguish and frustration. Just great stuff.

TKG: Both guys were working defensively as you had sense that Suzuki was fighting to block headbutts before they were unleashed. Fujiwara tries to establish distance to headbutt and Suzuki pulls him in. Really Phil’s covered the whole story here so pretty much all left to talk about are the cool little pieces like that, the multiple ways Fujiwara fights out of a choke (my favorite being this thing where he uses his feet to push his way out). Cameraman did a pretty great job here getting really expressive shots during long sleeper segment where Fujiwara spouts different types of bubbles till getting to the ropes. For a show that really had only two matches,,,this was a fucking great match.

[Childs]

Wellington Wilkins vs. Minoru Suzuki, UWF 1/16/90

 

This was the second match on the first UWF card of 1990. Suzuki and Funaki, both of whom had worked their first matches in New Japan, were the bright young stars of this second UWF go-round. It's striking how different Suzuki looked at this point as a fresh-faced 21-year-old with a lush head of hair. I've always enjoyed Wilkins, whether he was working shoot style in Japan or stretching a young Sean Waltman in Minneapolis. Suzuki showed his dickish side right away, smacking the shit out of Wilkins as they probed for position in the opening minute. The grappling here wasn't exactly peak RINGS, but it all carried a sense of struggle, with Suzuki adding nasty little touches like grinding his knuckles into Wilkins' face. Suzuki hit a bunch of violent takedowns and earned the biggest pop of the match with a ferocious dropkick that knocked Wilkins clear out of the ring. Wilkins looked a touch bewildered when Suzuki stomped the shit out of him after fighting out of a front facelock. Wilkins got a choke on Suzuki late, which Suzuki sold with a nice, big cough. The crowd gave an appreciative murmur when Wilkins tagged him with a receipt stomp on the break. You go, Wellington. Suzuki didn't like that and quickly dropped Wilkins with a flurry of slaps and knees. He then finished him with a viciously torqued half crab.

 

This wasn't a UWF classic but was a very good match with a lot packed into 12 minutes, 43 seconds. Suzuki perhaps felt the need to take a bit too much of the match instead of letting Wilkins look like a greater threat. But all his tools were already on display, from the surly attitude to the cool submissions to that innate ability to draw a crowd reaction.

 

 

Minoru Suzuki & Masayuke Naruse vs. Josh Barnett & Koji Kanemoto, New Japan 8/15/03

 

This was just the third match of Suzuki's comeback to pro wrestling and a little special attraction during the 2003 G-1. Barnett and Kanemoto both got right in Suzuki's face before the match, talking shit and shoving. Koji and Naruse started off sparring, but the crowd popped as soon as Naruse tagged in Suzuki. Right off, he slammed Kanemoto in front of Barnett as a sort of macho challenge. Kanemoto came right back at him and hit a nice judo takedown. But Suzuki quickly got the better of him on the mat. Barnett tagged in to another big pop and took Suzuki down. They ran through some quick mat counters but were really just goofing off. The main body of the match consisted of Barnett and Kanemoto demolishing the smaller Naruse, though we did get a fun interlude of Suzuki abusing Koji with a half crab and a nasty heel hook. Barnett and Suzuki worked another little mat sequence late in the match, but it didn't amount to much. Suzuki nailed him with a a nasty stomp and a few palm thrusts to set up an armbar. But Barnett scooted quickly to the ropes, and Suzuki tagged out. Their interactions were pretty disappointing, given the pre-match theatrics. The match ended with Naruse eating a knockout off a Barnett throw.

 

At a little more than 11 minutes, this was a brisk watch with some fun moments but slight overall. Though Suzuki offered hints of his charisma and badass submission work, he didn't really put his stamp on the match.

 

Minoru Suzuki vs. Togi Makabe, New Japan 8/3/14

 

Suzuki jumped right in Makabe's face with a scowl and they started the match wailing on each other in a clinch, almost like a hockey fight. Suzuki gained the early advantage with chairshots at ringside and then methodically worked Makabe over with kicks, knees and forearms. All his strikes looked great. He also paused to laugh at his foe's pain. Makabe eventually focused on Suzuki's leg after wrenching it along the guardrail. Suzuki sold the shit out of it, writhing around and slapping his knee in hopes of regaining feeling. Every so often, he reversed a Makabe move into his sleeper, reminding the fans how dangerous he remained. Suzuki regained control in nifty fashion, seeming to bait Makabe with a false hobble and then popping him with a quick dropkick. He then delivered a badass finishing sequence, dropping Makabe with a potato shot, drilling him with a running boot and then whipping him into a grounded sleeper.

 

This match showcased Suzuki's straight-up killer side. He sold Makabe's leg attack admirably but left an even greater impression with that commanding burst of offense to put the match away. Suzuki really comes off as a guy who could kill anyone given the right 10-second opening, and he's able to give his opponent a significant stretch of the match without ever seeming less dangerous.

[ohtani's jacket]

I found my 2006 run through of all the UWF shows, including each of the Suzuki matches -- http://web.archive.org/web/20070319060803/www.smarkschoice.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=144244&sid=68cda17fb5ed6375519d93d96c244584

[Childs]

Yuko Miyato vs. Minoru Suzuki, UWF 2/9/90

 

Suzuki was rocking an aquamarine headband as he entered. He sold Miyato's first kick as a low blow, which I guess it was. I didn't love the early double knockdown off a pair of slaps. The shots didn't look heavy enough to merit that dramatic pause. They went from there to a longish stretch of even grappling and tentative striking. Suzuki finally broke the stalemate with a fireman's carry takeover and that dropkick he loved to use in this period. Nifty combo of moves there. He followed with a headbutt and a judo throw for another knockdown. After eating a knockdown kick from Miyato, Suzuki answered with a powerslam of all things and hooked in a sleeper with his legs wrapped around Miyato's waist. But Miyato somehow hooked Suzuki's heel with his calf for a flash submission. I had to rewind the finish three times to figure it out, and it seemed to elude the crowd as well. So maybe too subtle? Anyway, they delivered quite the flurry of action in the last two minutes after a so-so middle. This wasn't a complete performance by Suzuki, but he did demonstrate what a dynamic offensive wrestler he was at a young age.

 

Minoru Suzuki vs. Osamu Nishimura, New Japan 1/4/04

 

This was from the Dome show, still early in Suzuki's comeback from MMA. Suzuki set the tone, smacking Nishimura off the first break in the corner. Cool mat spot early where Nishimura tried to do a headstand out of a headscissors but Suzuki immediately pulled him into an armbar as if to say "We're not screwing around here." Suzuki then got the better of a standing battle and leveled Nishimura with some nasty kicks to the body. Nishimura cut him off with a dragon leg screw and a series of spinning toe holds. But Suzuki rolled through one of the toe holds to apply another armbar. One thing that's come across in every match is how great Suzuki is at creative counters. More fun grappling from there as Nishimura responded to Suzuki's submissions with a series of neat roll-up attempts. And on about the fifth one, he got the sudden three count. I'm all for succinct matches, but I would've been happy to watch these guys for more than 9 minutes. I enjoyed what they did, but Nishimura is an excellent seller, and he didn't really have the time to show that. I also would've enjoyed a bit more toe-to-toe slugging with Suzuki's kicks and slaps against Nishimura's terrific Euro uppercuts. Oh well. They had a much longer match in the '04 G-1 that I'll get to at some point.