is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by 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 project ...

. He is currently working as 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 ...

, mainly for promotion

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 th ...

Career

Pro Wrestling Noah (2001-2013)

Suzuki was the last person remaining of a grueling thirty person training class in Pro Wrestling Noah's dojo. He debuted on Noah's 2001 Christmas show, and started wrestling under his real name of Yasuhiro Suzuki, but quickly changed it to Kotaro Suzuki. He challenged twice for the

GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling title in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, contested exclusively among junior heavyweight (<100 kg) wrestlers. It was created ...

in 2004, and was unsuccessful in both attempts. In 2005, he ended up adopting the guise of Mushiking Terry, a gimmick tying into the card/arcade game '' Mushiking: King of the Beetles'', defeating " Mushiking Joker" in his debut at DESTINY 2005 on July 18, 2005 at the Tokyo Dome, but his challenge for

KENTA Kenta (written: , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese film director *, Japanese kickboxer *, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japanese profession ...

's GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship on October 28, 2005 was unsuccessful after KENTA started performing heel actions such as faking a low blow as well as mockingly joining in a Terry chant while applying a camel clutch. At the January 21, 2007 Budokan Hall show, he pinned Mark Briscoe to take the GHC Jr. Tag title for himself and

Ricky Marvin Ricardo Fuentes Romero (born January 8, 1980) is a second-generation Mexican professional wrestler, known by his ring name Ricky Marvin, and is most known for his work in the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. Between 2005 and 2007, he also ...

. At the April 28, 2007 show, he defeated

Tatsuhito Takaiwa (born Go Yong-Il (Hangul: 고 용일), July 5, 1972) is a Zainichi-Korean professional wrestler. Takaiwa is one of the more well-traveled junior heavyweights in Japan, having wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Pro Wrestling Zero1, ...

to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship (as Mushiking Terry). At Noah's ''Budokan show! Autumn Navigation '07'', Suzuki (As Mushiking Terry) lost his GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship to

Yoshinobu Kanemaru is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he also works as a backstage producer. Kanemaru is best known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah, where he holds the records for the most reigns with the GHC ...

. He later betrayed Marvin by joining with Yoshinobu Kanemaru in tag team, which ended with they winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship. Suzuki and Kanemaru joined with Genba Hirayanagi, and later joined the stable Disobey with

Takeshi Rikio Takeshi Inoue (born December 20, 1972) known by his stage name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, who worked for Pro Wrestling Noah. He is also a former sumo wrestler. Sumo career He made his sumo debut in March 1988, after leavi ...

and Muhammad Yone. When Mitsuharu Misawa died, Suzuki (who was one of his students) adopted not just a green attire resembling the green tights of his mentor but started to use some moves like elbows and the Tiger Driver to pay him tribute and became a face again. He was later expulsed from Disobey and started a rivalry with his former partner Kanemaru. Suzuki would regain the GHC Junior Heavyweight Title from Kanemaru on December 5, 2010, ending his long title run. On July 30, 2011, Suzuki and Atsushi Aoki defeated Kenta and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the 2011 NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League, making both of them two-time winners of the tournament. On September 23, 2011, Suzuki lost the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship to

Katsuhiko Nakajima is a Japanese professional wrestler, signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He started his career in Riki Choshu's Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling (WJ) promotion before heading to Kensuke Sasaki's Kensuke Office/Diamond Ring dojo and promotion. He ...

. On October 16, 2011, Suzuki and Aoki defeated KENTA and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Ricky Marvin and Super Crazy on July 22, 2012. On December 19, 2012, Noah announced that Suzuki would be leaving the promotion, after refusing to re-sign after

Kenta Kobashi is a Japanese former professional wrestler. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1988, where he became one of the promotion's top stars, holding the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship three times, and winning the Cham ...

was fired. On December 24, Suzuki defeated Genba Hirayanagi in his final Noah match.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2013-2015)

On January 26, 2013, Suzuki, Atsushi Aoki,

Go Shiozaki is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion where he is the former GHC Heavyweight Champion in a record breaking fifth reign. He made his debut for the promotion in July 2004 and remained with it unti ...

Jun Akiyama is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he was the president, representative director, c ...

and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, all of whom had quit Noah at the same time, announced that they had joined

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 ...

, forming the "

Burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combustion ...

" stable. Suzuki and Aoki received their first shot at the

All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA fou ...

on March 17, but were defeated by the defending champions,

Koji Kanemoto (born Kim Il-Sung (김일성); October 31, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler of Zainichi Korean descent. He has previously worked with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is currently a freelancer. Professional wres ...

and Minoru Tanaka. On April 7, Suzuki and Aoki defeated

Hikaru Sato is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, better known by the ring name . Sato started his MMA career in February 2000, fighting for Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling. During the next eight years, Sato fought, on average, five time ...

and

Hiroshi Yamato , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works as a freelancer. Trained by the All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, he started his career in February 2007 working in Mexico for the International Wrestling ...

to win the 2013 Junior Hyper Tag League and earn another shot at Kanemoto and Tanaka. On April 25, Suzuki and Aoki defeated Kanemoto and Tanaka in a rematch to become the new All Asia Tag Team Champions. On May 11, Suzuki made a one night return to Noah to take part in Kenta Kobashi's retirement event, Final Burning in Budokan, during which he and Aoki defeated

Kentaro Shiga is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer. He returned from a two-year hiatus due to injury in 2005. History All Japan Pro Wrestling (1994−2000) Shiga trained in the All Japan dojo and debuted in All Japan Pro Wr ...

and Tamon Honda in a tag team match. On July 5, following a mass exodus led by

Keiji Mutoh is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), where he is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his work as in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and N ...

, it was announced that Suzuki, along with the rest of Burning, had signed an exclusive contract with All Japan. On October 29, Suzuki quit Burning in order to challenge Kanemaru for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship. On November 21, Suzuki and Aoki, along with

Kento Miyahara is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is the current six time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He was trained by Kensuke Sasaki and started his career in his Kensuke Office promotion ...

, joined Go Shiozaki's new Xceed stable. On January 26, 2014, Suzuki and Aoki lost the All Asia Tag Team Championship to former Burning stablemates Jun Akiyama and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. On February 5, Suzuki's longtime partnership with Aoki came to an end, when Aoki quit Xceed to go solo. Immediately afterwards, Suzuki went on a win streak, which culminated with him defeating

Masaaki Mochizuki is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Dragon Gate and Pro Wrestling Noah. Mochizuki is a former FIP World Champion and three-time Open the Dream Gate Champion. Professional wrestling career Early years A former karatek ...

on February 16 to win the 2014 Jr. Battle of Glory. As a result, Suzuki received a shot at the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion,

Último Dragón (born December 12, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler and actor, better known as . In addition to having trained in Japan, Asai learned to wrestle in the lucha libre style while working in Mexico. He is credited with popularizing the " A ...

, on February 23. On May 17, Suzuki defeated

Sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...

to win the Gaora TV Championship. On August 16, Suzuki and Kento Miyahara defeated

Keisuke Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler trained by and signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Ishii also competes for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a former World Junior Heavyweight Champion. Professional wrestling career DDT (2008–p ...

and

Shigehiro Irie is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist best known for his work in DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). Irie has also competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW), and a number of North American inde ...

to win the All Asia Tag Team Championship. On December 14, Suzuki lost the Gaora TV Championship to Kenso. On January 3, 2015, Suzuki and Miyahara lost the All Asia Tag Team Championship to

Mitsuya Nagai , better known as , is a Japanese mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and former kickboxer. He is known for his work in Fighting Network RINGS and later in professional wrestling companies like Battlarts and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJ ...

and Takeshi Minamino. On February 20, Suzuki won his second Jr. Battle of Glory in a row, defeating reigning World Junior Heavyweight Champion Atsushi Aoki in the finals. This led to a rematch on March 27, where Suzuki defeated Aoki to become the new World Junior Heavyweight Champion. On November 16, while he was still the World Junior Heavyweight Champion, Suzuki announced he would be leaving All Japan on November 30. He had signed a new one-year contract the previous July, but when the contract was afterwards changed twice, he decided to instead leave the promotion. Following the announcement, the World Junior Heavyweight Championship was vacated and Xceed disbanded.

Freelancer (2016-present)

On January 10 at Wrestle-1 Sunshine Tour after

's title celebration Suzuki appeared and he set his sights on the Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship belt. On January 22, he made an appearance in

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. ...

by attacking

Shinjiro Otani is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler and the current acting president of Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He is currently inactive from pro-wrestling competition due to a cervical spine injury substained in April 2022. A product of the ...

after his match and made a statement that he wants his belt and he makes alliance with

Mineo Fujita Mineo Fujita (born November 28, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He currently works for Pro Wrestling Zero1, where he is a former International Junior Heavyweight and NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion and NWA International Lightw ...

. On February 10, he defeated

Andy Wu is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by his ring name who worked for Wrestle-1 until its closure in 2020. He is currently a freelancer. Professional wrestling career All Japan Pro Wrestling (2012–2013) Andy Wu debuted for All Ja ...

on his

Wrestle-1 was a Japanese ''puroresu'' or professional wrestling 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 wrestlers loyal to Mutoh, who lef ...

debut. On February 22, Suzuki appeared on FMW in a tag team match when he and

Masato Tanaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a one-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and a one-time WEW World Heavyweight Champion and in Ex ...

defeated Tomohiko Hashimoto and Buffalo. On March 12, Suzuki defeated Minoru Tanaka in the finals of a tournament to win the vacant Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship. Suzuki would be the first man to defend the championship outside of Japan, defending the belt on two occasions, one at 4 Front Wrestling against Mark Haskins, and secondly at

Pro Wrestling Pride ''Pro Wrestling Pride'' (Sometimes referred to as ''Pride Promotions'', or simply PWP) was a pro wrestling company based in the South West of England, established in 2012 by professional wrestler Darren 'Saviour' Ferguson. Since its inception in 20 ...

against

Ultimo Tiger Glen Ferguson (born 4 June 1990) better known by his ring name Ultimo Tiger is a Scottish professional wrestler currently active in the United Kingdom. Ferguson, originally from Glasgow, Scotland started his in-ring career in 2013 in Devon. Ferg ...

. After six successful defenses, Suzuki lost the title to

Yusuke Kodama is a Japanese professional wrestler and currently wrestlers for All Japan Pro Wrestling as a freelancer. Kodama is best known for his time with Wrestle-1 (W-1), where he is a former two time UWA World Trios Champion, two time Wrestle-1 Cruiser ...

on August 11. On September 18, Suzuki and

Kaz Hayashi is a Japanese professional wrestler known simply as . He is best known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where in addition to being a wrestler for the promotion, he also served as the head booker for the company's junior heavyweigh ...

won the vacant Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship. On February 3, 2017, Suzuki defeated Shinjiro Otani to win Zero1's International Junior Heavyweight and NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championships. On March 20, Suzuki and Hayashi lost the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship to Koji Doi and Kumagoro. On October 26, Suzuki lost his Zero1 titles to Sean Guinness.

Return to Noah (2018-present)

On September 1, 2018, Suzuki returned to NOAH at Naomichi Marufuji's 20th anniversary show, where he teamed with

HI69 is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by his ring name Hi69 (pronounced as Hiroki). He is currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. Since debuting in 2000, Tanabe has frequently worked for Kaientai Dojo, Michinoku Pro Wrestling, Apache ...

and Minoru Tanaka to defeat Seiya Morohashi, Hitoshi Kumano and Hajime Ohara and afterwards brawled with them. This led to him competing in the 2018 Global Junior Heavyweight League, where he finished with a record of four wins and one loss, including a win over reigning GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion Daisuke Harada and defeated Yo-Hey in the finals. This led to a match on October 30, where Suzuki defeated Harada to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship for the third time. He later won the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with

Yoshinari Ogawa (born November 2, 1966) is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for Pro Wrestling Noah. He has earned the nickname of "Rat Boy" from the English-speaking Puroresu fanbase due to his sneaky, clever in-ring tactics and baiting hi ...

and formed a stable named Stinger later joined by Atsushi Kotoge and Chris Ridgeway.

Championships and accomplishments

(

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 ...

) – with Atsushi Aoki (1), and

(1) ** Gaora TV Championship ( 1 time) ** World Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** Jr. Battle of Glory (

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

) ** Junior Hyper Tag League (

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

) – with Atsushi Aoki * DDT Pro-Wrestling ** KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship ( 1 time, current) – with Tetsuya Endo and Yusuke Okada * Dragon Gate **

Open the Triangle Gate Championship The Open the Triangle Gate Championship is a professional wrestling trios title in Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. It was created on November 7, 2004 when The Italian Connection faction of Milano Collection A.T., Anthony W. Mori and Yossino d ...

(

) – with

Nosawa Rongai , better known by his ring names Nosawa and , (born December 17, 1976) is a Japanese freelance professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in All Japan Pro Wrestling and various independent promotions. Career Early career (19952004) Nos ...

and

Eita is a Japanese actor from Tokyo. He has appeared in many Japanese television dramas and movies; most notable is the TV series '' Water Boys''. He also appeared in '' Summer Time Machine Blues'' and '' Tokyo Friends: The Movie''. Career In 2009, ...

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority sha ...

**Tag Team Best Bout (2003) with

Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler who competes for Pro Wrestling Noah, with occasional appearances in other professional wrestling promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), ...

vs.

Jyushin Thunder Liger , better known as and later , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the NJPW roster, having wrestled for the company since h ...

and

on June 10 *''

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 Publi ...

'' **Ranked No. 113 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the '' PWI 500'' in 2007 *

(

4 times "4 Times" (stylized as "4 TIMES") is the 50th single by pop/ R&B singer Koda Kumi. It was released on August 17, 2011 and debuted at No. 6, remaining on the Oricon charts for nine consecutive weeks. In commemoration of it being the fiftieth singl ...

) ** GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship ( 5 times) – with

(1),

(1), Atsushi Aoki (1),

(1), and Atsushi Kotoge (1) **

Global Junior Heavyweight League The Global Junior Heavyweight League is a professional wrestling round-robin tournament held by Pro Wrestling Noah. The purpose of the tournament is to determine the promotion's top junior heavyweight wrestler. It was originally designed to be an ...

(

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 ...

) **

Nippon TV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League The Global Junior Heavyweight Tag League is an annual professional wrestling round-robin tag team tournament held by Pro Wrestling Noah since 2007. Originally known as the Nippon TV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League and from 2011 until 2017 as the NT ...

(

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

) – with Yoshinobu Kanemaru ** NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League (

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

) – with Atsushi Aoki ** Global Junior Heavyweight Tag League (

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

) – with Yoshinari Ogawa **One Day Jr. Heavyweight Six Man Tag Tournament (2008) - with

and Genba Hirayanagi *

** International Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

** Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Championship ( 1 time) ** Wrestle-1 Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with

**Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Fourth Generation Champion Tournament (2016)

Luchas de Apuestas record

References

External links

All Japan Pro Wrestling profile

Pro Wrestling Noah profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Kotaro 1978 births 21st-century professional wrestlers Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people GHC Junior Heavyweight Champions GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions All Asia Tag Team Champions World Junior Heavyweight Champions (AJPW) Gaora TV Champions Open the Triangle Gate Champions Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Champions Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions