is a Japanese

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

who is currently signed to

Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left the ...

(Noah). He previously wrestled in

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

, where he performed on the NXT brand under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Hachiman as a member of

Diamond Mine There are a limited number of commercially available diamond mines currently operating in the world, with the 50 largest mines accounting for approximately 90% of global supply. Diamonds are also mined alluvially over disperse areas, where dia ...

, and also worked as a coach at the

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE wre ...

. Trained by

Billy Robinson William Alfred Robinson (18 September 1938 – 3 March 2014) was a British professional wrestler and wrestling instructor. Robinson was one of the few wrestlers who was successful in several continents ( Europe, North America, Asia and Ocean ...

, Suzuki started his career with the

Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) was a Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotion founded by Antonio Inoki in 2007. History Antonio Inoki left New Japan Pro-Wrestling, a promotion he founded in 1972, to start the IGF. The first IGF show was held on J ...

(IGF) promotion in 2008. In 2014, he left IGF to become a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

, starting to work for promotions such as

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagasaki, ...

(BJW),

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. I ...

(Zero1) and

Wrestle-1 was a Japanese ''puroresu'' or professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion, founded in July 2013 by Keiji Mutoh following his resignation from All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The core of the promotion's roster was formed by ...

(W-1). He is a former two-time BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion,a former one-time Zero1 World Heavyweight, NWA United National Heavyweight, Wrestle-1 Champion and NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champion. In 2017, Fighting TV Samurai named Suzuki the MVP in Japanese independent wrestling. Overall, Suzuki is recognized as a 3-time

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Professional wrestling career

Inoki Genome Federation (2008–2014)

With a background in

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, Suzuki was trained in

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

at the U.W.F. Snake Pit Japan dojo. After four years of training under British wrestler

, he made his debut for the

(IGF) promotion on November 24, 2008, losing to

Hiromitsu Kanehara ) is a former Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler of Korean descent. A professional MMA competitor from 1998 until 2012, he found success in Fighting Network RINGS, gaining notable victories over Valentijn Overeem, Alexand ...

. For the next three years, Suzuki worked undercards of IGF events. His status finally began to rise in 2012 following a match with

Peter Aerts Peter Aerts (born 25 October 1970) is a Dutch semi-retired kickboxer. Known for his devastating high kicks, which earned him the nickname "The Dutch Lumberjack", he is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time ...

. On May 26, 2013, Suzuki won the second Inoki Genome tournament, defeating Akira Joh in the finals. As a result, he received his first shot at the

IGF Championship (IGF) was a Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotion founded by Antonio Inoki in 2007. History Antonio Inoki left New Japan Pro-Wrestling, a promotion he founded in 1972, to start the IGF. The first IGF show was held on J ...

on October 26, but was defeated by the defending champion,

Kazuyuki Fujita is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and a former amateur wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a one-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has most recently fought in Road FC, but is also known for his ...

. The following March, Suzuki left IGF to become a

Freelance (2014–2021)

Suzuki then began working regularly for

(Zero1), while also making appearances for promotions such as

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...

(AJPW),

DDT Pro-Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name stands for Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's official name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the promotion was eventually bo ...

(DDT), and

(Noah). Suzuki quickly received a shot at Zero1's World Heavyweight Championship, though losing to defending champion,

Kohei Sato is a Japanese professional wrestler contracted with Pro Wrestling Zero1. Sato is also a former mixed martial artist. Career A former judoka and amateur wrestler, Sato made his transition to mixed martial arts after meeting Kazunari Murakami and ...

, on May 6. On August 3, 2014, Suzuki finally won his first professional wrestling championship in Zero1, defeating Tama Williams for the

NWA United National Heavyweight Championship The United National Heavyweight Championship (often shortened to UN Championship) is a professional wrestling title in the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Zero1. It is one of ZERO1's top two singles titles, along with the Zero1 World Heavyweig ...

. In November, Suzuki took part in special week, where Zero1 co-produced three events with the

promotion. Through the continued relationship between Zero1 and Wrestle-1, Suzuki began also making appearances for the latter promotion, where he found himself a rival in Kai. On March 8, 2015, after Kai had captured the

Wrestle-1 Championship The was the top professional wrestling title owned by the Wrestle-1 (W-1) promotion. In Japanese the title's name includes the katakana term for "championship", , derived from the English language instead of the more common kanji term . The title ...

, Suzuki immediately confronted the new champion and challenged him to a title match. The match took place on April 1 and saw Suzuki defeat Kai in just seven minutes to become the new Wrestle-1 Champion. On May 5, Suzuki put both of his championships on the line at separate Zero1 and Wrestle-1 shows, losing the NWA United National Heavyweight Championship to Kamikaze and retaining the Wrestle-1 Championship against

Ryota Hama (born November 21, 1979) is a retired Japanese sumo wrestler and current professional wrestler, signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. Sumo career Hama joined sumo in July 1995, and he fought for the Hakkaku stable ...

. On June 27, Suzuki returned to IGF for the first time since his departure from the promotion, first defeating Wang Bin in the opening round and then

Daichi Hashimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division, where he is a former two-time BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champion and three-time BJW Tag Team Champion. He is the son of Shiny ...

in the finals to win the Genome-1 2015 Nagoya tournament. Following the win, Suzuki formed an "anti-IGF"

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

with foreigners Erik Hammer, Kevin Kross and Knux. On July 12, Suzuki lost the Wrestle-1 Championship back to Kai in his third defense. On November 1, Suzuki defeated Kohei Sato to win Pro Wrestling Zero1's World Heavyweight Championship. On February 26, 2016, Suzuki returned to IGF, when he was appointed the leader of a new stable named Hagure IGF Gundan ("Rogue IGF Corps"), which also included Kazuyuki Fujita,

Kendo Kashin Tokimitsu Ishizawa (''Ishizawa Tokimitsu'', born August 5, 1968), better known by his ring name Kendo Kashin (ケンドー・カシン, ''Kendō Kashin''), is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his time in New Japan Pr ...

and

Shogun Okamoto , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakura ...

. On March 27, Suzuki lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Kohei Sato. On March 5, 2017, Suzuki challenged

Daisuke Sekimoto (born February 9, 1981) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) in the Strong BJ division. He is also known for his appearances in Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max. He is a three-time BJW World Strong Heavyw ...

for the

(BJW) World Strong Heavyweight Championship. After wrestling to a thirty-minute time limit draw, Suzuki and Sekimoto agreed to a rematch on March 30. Suzuki went on to win the rematch to become the new World Strong Heavyweight Champion. On September 14, Suzuki and Kohei Sato defeated Shogun Okamoto and

Yutaka Yoshie , is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer in Japan, performing most notably for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former World Tag Team Champion. He has previously worked for promotions such as New Japa ...

to win the

vacant Within the context of building construction and building codes, "occupancy" refers to the use, or intended use, of a building, or portion of a building, for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property. A closely related meaning is th ...

NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship The Intercontinental Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promoting Pro Wrestling Zero1, typically reserved for (but not exclusive to) heavyweight (>) wrestlers. It was created on June 14, 2001, three month ...

. After five successful title defenses, Suzuki lost the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship to Daichi Hashimoto on December 17. Suzuki claimed that losing the title cost him most of his bookings and that he was facing unemployment heading into 2018. On January 1, 2018, Suzuki and Sato lost the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship to Masayuki Okamoto and Yutaka Yoshie. On April 4, 2019 at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport, Suzuki defeated

Timothy Thatcher {{Infobox professional wrestler , name = Timothy Thatcher , image = ThatcherMLW2019.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Thatcher at MLW Saturday Night SuperFight , birth_name = Timothy Andrew Moura{{cite web, ur ...

via knockout.

WWE (2021–2022)

In April 2021, Suzuki signed with WWE as a coach in the Performance Center. Despite his work as coach, Suzuki would begin to work on NXT's weekly show as a pro wrestler under the name of Hachiman, as a part of the villainous stable

, alongside

Roderick Strong Christopher Lindsey (born July 26, 1983), better known by his name Roderick Strong, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand, as the leader of Diamond Mine, but is currently inactive due to ...

Tyler Rust Russell Gene Taylor (born January 26, 1987), is an American professional wrestler. Taylor is currently competing for Ring of Honor under the ring name Taylor Rust. In his previous stint with ROH, Taylor was previously known as Rust Taylor. He is ...

(who was released several weeks later) and

Malcolm Bivens Stokely Hathaway (born November 12, 1990) is an American professional wrestling manager and former professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the manager of The Firm. He was also previously known for his work ...

. Within the coming months, The Creed Brothers (Brutus and Julius Creed) and Ivy Nile would also join the stable. On January 5, 2022, Suzuki was released from his WWE contract.

Pro Wrestling Noah (2022–current)

On February 24, 2022 it was announced that Suzuki would be returning to Japan to wrestle for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). On March 13, 2022 Suzuki would team with Takashi Sugiura to win the GHC Tag Team Championship by defeating the team of Daiki Inaba & Kaito Kiyomiya at Noah Great Voyage In Yokohama 2022

Other media

Suzuki's first book, entitled , was released on January 19, 2017. The book is about wrestling techniques taught to Suzuki by Billy Robinson.

Championships and accomplishments

BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the Japanese Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) promotion. It is one of two heavyweight championships promoted by BJW, the other being the BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championshi ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) **

Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling six-man tag team championship owned by the Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) promotion. The title was created on August 4, 2012. As the name suggests, the title is usuall ...

( 1 time) – with Takuya Nomura and Yoshihisa Uto **

Ikkitousen Strong Climb Ikkitousen Strong Climb is a professional wrestling round-robin hardcore tournament held by Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) with a span of two years to determine the best wrestler of BJW's Strong BJ division. The tournament was first held in 2014. ...

(

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

) *

Ice Ribbon is a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion established in 2006 by Emi Sakura, after her split with Gatokunyan. History Ice Ribbon was founded by Emi Sakura, a professional wrestler wh ...

Triangle Ribbon Championship The is a women's professional wrestling championship owned by the Ice Ribbon promotion. The championship was introduced on November 28, 2009, when Riho defeated Nanae Takahashi and Tsukasa Fujimoto to become the inaugural champion. Championship m ...

(1 time) *

** 2nd Inoki Genome Tournament (2013) **Genome-1 2015 Nagoya *Japan Indie Awards **MVP Award (2017) *

Pro-Wrestling Basara is a Japan, Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The promotion was founded in 2015 as a sub-brand of DDT Pro-Wrestling and was essentially a relaunch of :ja:ユニオンプロレス, Union Pro Wrestling, acqu ...

**Shinjuku Chijō Saidai Budōkai Tournament (2017) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'' **Ranked No. 122 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishi ...

in 2018 *

GHC Tag Team Championship The Global Honored Crown (GHC) Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. It was created on October 19, 2001, when Scorpio & Vader defeated Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito in a tourname ...

(

) – with

Takashi Sugiura is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). Sugiura, an accomplished amateur wrestler, joined Noah's dojo in 2000, making his professional debut on December 23, 2000, and thus becoming the first wrestler ...

(1) and

(1) *

( 1 time) – with

( 1 time) ** World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *''

Tokyo Sports is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960. See also * Tokyo Sports Film Award * Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' mag ...

'' ** Technique Award (2017) *Toshikoshi Puroresu **Shuffle Tag Tournament (2017) – with

Konosuke Takeshita is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to both All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in the United States and DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) in Japan. Takeshita was named the Rookie of the Year by '' Tokyo Sports'' in 2013 and is the youngest KO-D ...

( 1 time)

References

External links

Inoki Genome Federation profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Hideki 1980 births Living people Japanese male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Hokkaido Japanese male judoka GHC Tag Team Champions Wrestle-1 Champions 21st-century professional wrestlers BJW World Strong Heavyweight Champions Yokohama Shopping Street 6-Man Tag Team Champions