Kenzo Suzuki

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This article is about the professional wrestler. There is also a Japanese astronomer named Kenzo Suzuki.

Kenzo Suzuki


Statistics
Ring name(s)	Kenzo Suzuki Hirohito
Billed height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Billed weight	118 kg (260 lb)
Born	July 25, 1974 Hekinan, Aichi
Billed from	the Land of the Rising Sun
Trained by	Riki Chōshū
Debut	2000

Kenzo Suzuki (鈴木健想 in Japanese) born July 25, 1974 in Hekinan, Aichi is a Japanese professional wrestler who formerly worked for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), an American professional wrestling association, on its SmackDown! brand and very briefly as part of its RAW brand.

1 Career
2 In wrestling
- 2.1 Previous managers
3 Quotes
- 3.1 Finishing and signature moves
4 Championships and accomplishments

[edit] Career

Suzuki was a rugby player prior to his professional debut as a wrestler in April 1999. His debut was at New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestling World 2000 event at the Tokyo Dome, losing to Manabu Nakanishi. Later that year, Suzuki won New Japan's Young Lions Cup tournament, defeating Shinya Makabe. He would also win Rookie of the Year honors from New Japan in the same year. In his years in New Japan, he was teamed with fellow rookie Hiroshi Tanahashi, who had debuted only four months before him. Their combination, known as The Kings of the Hills, was reminiscent of the old Giant Baba/Antonio Inoki pairing in the Japanese Wrestling Association, in which Suzuki was big and had a name value from playing a previous sport (like Baba, who had been a baseball pitcher), but Tanahashi, despite his lack of name and regular size, was clearly the more talented worker.

In 2003, Suzuki resigned from New Japan, choosing to follow his mentor and trainer, Riki Chōshū, to Chōshū's World Japan promotion. Later in the year, he left to wrestle in the United States. It is speculated that he was forced to resign because a wrestler he was helping to train, Giant Ochiai[1], died while training on his watch [2]. The World Japan promotion had been embroiled in controversy up to that point and this news was something that the promotion did not need. This led to him being blackballed,^{[citation needed]} thus his venturing to wrestle in the United States. Suzuki wrestled for the Major League Wrestling (MLW) promotion in the United States during 2003. Nevertheless, citing lack of competition in the World Japan roster, he quit.

In 2004, Suzuki debuted for WWE's SmackDown! brand, along with his geisha valet (and real-life wife) Hiroko. Dan Madigan created a Hirohito gimmick for his WWE debut, but the idea was dropped and he debuted under his real name. He made his WWE TV debut on the June 10, 2004 episode of SmackDown! His first opponent was Scotty 2 Hotty, followed by Spike Dudley and a short feud with Billy Gunn which ended with a match at the Great American Bash, which Suzuki won. Generally he worked as a heel with two humorous gimmicks. One was convincing fans he was pro-American by poorly singing popular songs; the other was an obsession with busty wrestling divas such as Torrie Wilson (often earning Hiroko's great ire). Often at house shows and Television tapings, the crowd would chant "USA! USA!", while Kenzo covered his ears and got down on one knee.

On the episode of Smackdown! airing September 9, 2004, Kenzo, along with Rene Dupree won the WWE Tag Team Championship, defeating Billy Kidman and Paul London. He, along with René Duprée, lost the WWE Tag-Team Championships to Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio on the December 9, 2004 airing of Smackdown!. Kenzo had the opportunity for a rematch at Armageddon but lost the match along with his partner Dupree. In singles action he briefly feuded with John Cena for the WWE United States Championship, getting into a battle rap with him at one point.

He was soon injured with a collapsed lung. After his recovery, he was sent to OVW to continue his training until he was ready to return to the main roster.

Suzuki and Hiroko were traded to RAW on June 30, 2005 at the end of the 2005 Draft Lottery. However, both of the Suzukis were released on July, 5 2005 before debuting on RAW.

Kenzo and his wife have since returned to Japan, where he now competes for the off-beat Hustle promotion. In a match on December 25, 2005 both Kenzo & Hiroko were defeated by the team of Liosazer & Riser Glen. In one of his more humorous matches, he is defeated by Razor Ramon HG when he is de-pantsed during a Sunset Flip maneuver.

On February 15, 2006, Kenzo announced that he had signed a contract with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico. Hiroko won't accompany him there, however.