Kenzo suzuki wikipedia

Suzuki was a rugby union player, playing at the international level for Japan prior to his professional debut as a wrestler in January Following this, he would go on to win the Young Lion Tournament after defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi in the finals, [ 5 ] later forming a tag team with Tanahashi known as The Kings of the Hills. 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 , died while training on his watch.

Kenzo suzuki wwe

He would portray a Japanese patriot , holding anti-American views and wanting revenge on America for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, the gimmick was dropped after the first vignette aired on the April 19, edition of Raw. Suzuki and his wife, Hiroko , reportedly told Vince McMahon directly that it would be extremely offensive in Japan and cause big problems for the company doing future business there.

Suzuki and Hiroko were instead moved to the SmackDown! Suzuki used his given name and Hiroko was used as his geisha valet. Together, they made their television debut on the June 10 episode of SmackDown! On the July 15 episode of SmackDown! On the September 2 episode of SmackDown!