Early career (2000–2003) Suzuki debuted on January 4, 2000, at
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)'s
Wrestling World 2000 event at the
Tokyo Dome, losing to
Manabu Nakanishi. Later that year, Suzuki won NJPW's Young Lion Cup tournament, defeating
Shinya Makabe. He also won Rookie of the Year honors from NJPW in the same year. Following this, he would go on to win the Young Lion Tournament after defeating
Hiroshi Tanahashi in the finals, As a result, this led to Suzuki venturing to the
United States'
independent circuit, where he worked for the
Major League Wrestling (MLW) and
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotions during 2003 before ultimately quitting World Japan, citing a lack of competition within the latter promotion.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2004–2005) In 2004, Suzuki signed a developmental contract with
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to their
developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in February. Originally, Suzuki was scheduled to debut on the
Raw brand in May under the ring name
Hirohito. He was to be presented as the grandson of
Emperor Michi Hirohito, who ruled Japan during
World War II. 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, 2004 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 also told Bruce Prichard that Emperor Hirohito was not as beloved in Japan as they thought. Suzuki and Hiroko were instead moved to the
SmackDown! brand. Suzuki used his given name and Hiroko was used as his
geisha valet. Their real-life marriage was not mentioned on television. Together, they made their television debut on the June 10 episode of
SmackDown!, where Suzuki defeated
Scotty 2 Hotty. Suzuki then began a short
feud with
Billy Gunn, which ended with Suzuki defeating Gunn at
The Great American Bash. On the July 15 episode of
SmackDown!, Suzuki,
René Duprée, and
Booker T defeated
John Cena in a 3-on-1 elimination match. on the July 29 episode of
SmackDown!, Suzuki competed in an 8-man elimination match for the vacant
United States Championship, which was won by Booker T. On the September 2 episode of
SmackDown!, Suzuki, Duprée and Booker T lost to Cena,
Rob Van Dam and
Rey Mysterio. On the September 9 episode of
SmackDown!, Suzuki and Duprée defeated
Paul London and
Billy Kidman to win the
WWE Tag Team Championship. During the title reign, Suzuki adopted a comedic
pro-American gimmick that saw him poorly sing popular songs. At
No Mercy, Suzuki and Duprée successfully defended their titles against Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio. After continued weeks of feuding, Suzuki and Duprée lost the titles to Van Dam and Mysterio on the December 9 episode of
SmackDown!. They failed to regain the titles in a rematch at
Armageddon. Suzuki entered a feud with John Cena over the United States Championship. On the January 6, 2005, episode of
SmackDown!, Suzuki challenged United States Champion John Cena to a
battle rap. He then challenged Cena for the championship on the January 13 and January 27 episodes of
SmackDown!, but was unsuccessful in both attempts. Suzuki entered the
Royal Rumble match as the sixth entrant, but was eliminated by Rey Mysterio. His final WWE match came on the February 26 episode of
Velocity where he lost to Booker T. In the following months, Suzuki suffered a collapsed lung. He returned to Ohio Valley Wrestling to continue his recovery. Suzuki and Hiroko were traded to
Raw during the
2005 Draft Lottery. However, the pair were released from their contracts on July 6, 2005, before ever making an appearance on the brand.
Hustle and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2005–2006) After leaving WWE, Suzuki returned to Japan, where he began performing for Hustle and wrestled in a number of humorous matches against the likes of
Liosazer and
Razor Ramon HG. In addition to Hustle, Suzuki also began performing for
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) alongside fellow WWE alumnus
Mark Jindrak, who began performing as Marco Corleone. Together, they were put into a feud with
Shocker and
Universo 2000, which led to Suzuki and Corleone losing a
hair vs. hair match on June 12 and thus being forced to have their heads shaved. Following this, Suzuki was used sparingly before eventually leaving CMLL.
AAA (2007–2010, 2015) On March 13, Suzuki was seen on
AAA after jumping from the rival CMLL. He is a part of the Legion Extranjera with
Konnan as the ring leader. On July 7, Suzuki lost his hair in the main event of AAA's
Triplemanía XV.
Sean Waltman was also in the match with his fiancee,
Alicia Webb. Suzuki has been an active member of Konnan's Legion Extranjera since his debut and he had an opportunity for the
AAA Mega Championship against
Cibernético. He has teamed up with the returning
Electroshock who is also a member of the Legion Extranjera. They have feuded with
La Parka and
Octagón. As of
Triplemania XVI he has received a mini who accompanied him to the ring for a six-man tag match teaming with Electroshock and
Bobby Lashley to take on
Chessman, La Parka, and the returning
Silver King. Suzuki's team won in the end. Suzuki was part of the
2009 Rey de Reyes, losing to La Parka on March 15. After
Triplemania XVII, Konnan's Legion Extranjera lost control of AAA; Konnan was suspended from Mexican wrestling for an indefinite time. At this time Legion Extranjera was dissolved leaving only Electroshock, Chessman, and Suzuki. Suzuki made an alliance with El Oriental and they formed their own team with
Sugi San getting victories in their debut. They would lose to the Psycho Circus at
Verano de Escandalo. In December 2009, Suzuki re-joined La Legión Extranjera before leaving the promotion in mid-2010. Suzuki returned to AAA on May 24, 2015, when he,
Masamune and
Tiger Mask III formed a trio for the
Lucha Libre World Cup. They were defeated in the first round of the tournament by Team MexLeyendas (
Blue Demon Jr.,
Dr. Wagner Jr. and
El Solar).
Dragon Gate (2007) On November 7, 2007, Suzuki made his debut in
Dragon Gate as the surprise member of the
Muscle Outlaw'z unit. He came out to
Anthony W. Mori's entrance theme to trick the Typhoon unit into believing one of their own betrayed them. Suzuki competed in a six-man tag team match with new teammates
Genki Horiguchi and
Yasushi Kanda against
Cima,
Dragon Kid, and
Ryo Saito that resulted in a disqualification loss for his team after assaulting the referee. Afterward, he and the rest of the MO'z assaulted Dragon Kid and removed the ring ropes to be used against him. This set up a match between Suzuki and Dragon Kid at the big November 25 show in Osaka. He faced on November 18
Kenichiro Arai in Fukuoka in his first match for the promotion.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (2010–2019) On July 25, 2010, Suzuki, disguised under a La Parka mask, made his debut for
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), helping the
Voodoo Murders put
Keiji Mutoh through a table. Afterwards, Suzuki unmasked himself, adopted the ring name Kenso and joined the heel group, which also included his former tag team partner René Duprée. On November 20, 2010, Kenso entered the
World's Strongest Tag Determination League, teaming with fellow Voodoo Murders member
Kono. After winning six out of their eight round robin stage matches, Kenso and Kono finished first in the group and on December 7 defeated
Ryota Hama and
Suwama in the finals to win the 2010 World's Strongest Tag Determination League. Kenso and Kono received their shot at the
World Tag Team Championship on January 3, 2011, but were defeated by the defending champions,
Akebono and
Taiyō Kea. Shortly afterwards Kenso left the Voodoo Murders, turning face and on February 13, 2011, defeated Kono and Akebono in a three-way match to become the number one contender to the
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, held by
Suwama. On March 21 Kenso failed in his challenge for the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. On June 19, Kenso and The Great Muta defeated Akebono and Ryota Hama to win the vacant World Tag Team Championship. After losing the title to
Dark Cuervo and
Dark Ozz on October 23, Muta turned on Kenso. The turn was part of a storyline, where other AJPW wrestlers did not take Kenso seriously and refused to team with him as part of his Kenso Kakumei ("Kenso Revolution") stable. However, in the two's first match together three days later, Kenso turned on Shiozaki and announced he was forming a new heel stable named
Dark Kingdom (DK) with foreigners
Bambi Killer and
D'Lo Brown. On April 23, 2014, Kenso introduced AJPW outsiders
Bear Fukuda,
Kengo Mashimo,
Kenichiro Arai,
Mitsuya Nagai and
Takeshi Minamino as the newest members of DK, proclaiming this the "real beginning" of the stable. On December 14, Kenso won his first singles title in AJPW, when he defeated
Kotaro Suzuki for the
Gaora TV Championship. He lost the title to
Sushi in his fourth defense on June 4, 2015. On July 31, it was announced that Kenso would begin freelancing following the expiration of his AJPW contract. He would, however, continue working for AJPW as a freelancer. ==Personal life==