Kotaro Suzuki

Kotaro Suzuki
Ring name(s)	Kotaro Suzuki Tiger Emperor Mushiking Terry
Billed height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Billed weight	83 kg (180 lb)
Born	June 18, 1978 (1978-06-18) (age 33) Warabi, Saitama
Debut	December 24, 2001

Kotaro Suzuki (鈴木鼓太郎; Suzuki Kotarō), born June 18, 1978 in Warabi, Saitama is a professional wrestler who currently wrestles for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is one half of the reigning GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.

Career

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, but quickly changed it to Kotaro. He challenged twice for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship 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'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. At the April 28, 2007 show, he defeated Tatsuhito Takaiwa 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. 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 and Mohammed 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 Nippon TV Jr. 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. On October 16, 2011, Suzuki and Aoki defeated KENTA and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

In wrestling

• As Kotaro Suzuki
  • Finishing moves
    • Blue Destiny (Gory neckbreaker)
    • Excalibur (Spinning belly to belly piledriver)
    • Myst Crash (Three-quarter nelson suplex)
    • Requiem (Electric chair driver)
    • Tiger Driver (Double underhook lifted sitout sheerdrop powerbomb) - In tribute to Mitsuharu Misawa
  • Signature moves
    • 450° splash
    • Akushizu (Flipping release belly to back suplex)
    • Bit Blaster (Handspring back elbow smash)
    • Colony Drop (Inverted frankensteiner)
    • Funnel Blaster (Tiger feint kick)
    • Incom (Tilt–a–whirl headscissors armbar)
    • Rider Kick
    • Rolling elbow - in tribute to Mitsuharu Misawa
    • Zero System (Diving hurricanrana)

• As Mushiking Terry
  • Finishing moves
    • Genesis (Sitout double underhook powerbomb)
  • Signature moves
    • Death valley driver
    • Leg trap sunset flip powerbomb
    • Teradrive (Super sitout hip toss)

• As Tiger Emperor
  • Finishing moves
    • Tiger Driver '05 (Package piledriver)
    • Tiger Suplex '04 (Bridging leg hook tiger suplex)

Championships and accomplishments

• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • Tag Team Best Bout (2003) with Naomichi Marufuji vs. Jushin Liger and Koji Kanemoto on June 10^[1]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #148 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011^[2]

• Pro Wrestling Noah
  • GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (3 times, current) – with Ricky Marvin (1), Yoshinobu Kanemaru (1) and Atsushi Aoki (1, current)
  • Nippon TV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League (2009) – with Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League (2011) – with Atsushi Aoki

References

1. ^ "2003 New Japan Awards". Strong Style Spirit. http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/2003-awards.html. Retrieved 2011-04-28. 
2. ^ ""PWI 500": 101–200". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. 2011-08-08. http://prowrestlingillustrated.blogspot.com/2011/08/pwi-500-101-200.html. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 

• Profile at Green Destiny

Persondata
Name
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 18, 1978
Place of birth	Warabi, Saitama
Date of death
Place of death