WWE's Forgotten Japanese Star Of The Ruthless Aggression Era
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When one thinks of the Ruthless Aggression Era of WWE, names like John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, and Randy Orton come to mind. There's no doubt that WWE had many established superstars in their arsenal to where they have a brand split representing two distinctive rosters. However, the Ruthless Aggression Era had its fair share of talent that isn't remembered much despite getting pushed on their exclusive brand. One talent that comes to mind is Smackdown superstar Kenzo Suzuki, one of WWE's forgotten Japanese wrestlers.
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Kenzo Suzuki Debuts On Smackdown
After WrestleMania 20, the Smackdown brand went through a massive change regarding its talent, considering Brock Lesnar leaving Smackdown and the 2004 WWE Draft. One of those changes that Smackdown went through was bringing up Kenzo Suzuki, who wrestled in Japan a couple of years before signing with WWE in 2004. Though initially going to adopt a typical anti-American foreign heel persona, Kenzo Suzuki made his debut at the June 8, 2004, Smackdown tapings alongside his valet and real-life wife Hiroko, defeating Scotty 2 Hotty.
Just Another Mid-Card Act
After a few squash matches and a PPV win against Billy Gunn at The Great American Bash 2004, Kenzo Suzuki was mainly a mid-card act that hardly ever posed any legitimate threat. This says a lot about Kenzo Suzuki's status in WWE. Unlike many other wrestlers who've been pushed heavily for months, Kenzo Suzuki was thwarted into the Smackdown mid-card and received no push to present him as a credible star.
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As a singles wrestler, Kenzo Suzuki was mainly the mid-card heel WWE would pair with other babyfaces on Smackdown to make them look good. Regarding most of his WWE tenure as a singles star, Kenzo Suzuki would lose at the hands of many babyfaces on Smackdown, such as Eddie Guerrero, John Cena, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and even Hardcore Holly. He never had a one-on-one monumental win over a specific superstar that brought him to new heights.
Kenzo Suzuki's Accomplishments
However, some positives came out of his short tenure on Smackdown. For instance, Kenzo Suzuki was a prominently featured performer on the Smackdown brand for nearly his entire tenure in WWE, which many other wrestlers on Smackdown don't have, like veteran Billy Gunn. While no one will argue that Kenzo Suzuki had the most successful career as a WWE superstar, he did manage to win a championship and held on to it for a couple of months.
Along with Renee Dupree, Kenzo Suzuki captured the WWE Tag-Team Championship from Billy Kidman and Paul London on September 7, 2004, Smackdown taping and held it for three months before dropping it to Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam. His Tag-team Championship reign with Renee Dupree was the best highlight of his tenure. One can also point to working with some veterans on Smackdown as a plus for Kenzo Suzuki's career, like sharing the ring with Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam, and even Eddie Guerrero.
Kenzo Suzuki Engages In Comedy
Kenzo Suzuki also took a comedy character as a wacky "American patriot" persona. While WWE failed at making Kenzo Suzuki seem serious, being a comedic character at least can make for entertaining TV. It's WWE, as they've always emphasized the "sports entertainment" moniker by doing comedy. And although it's typical stereotyping of WWE portraying Asian wrestlers as comedy characters, Kenzo Suzuki at least made the best of the material WWE gave him.
It's worth noting that Kenzo Suzuki's promos were a running gag, as it was part of his comedic persona. Especially when feuding with John Cena, as one of the more memorable moments of Kenzo Suzuki's short career in WWE was his battle-rap segment with John Cena. During that rap-battle segment, it was noticeable that Kenzo Suzuki's English was part of the intended comedic appeal.
What Went Wrong?
With Kenzo Suzuki's 6"3 and 270 pounds of mass, one may think that WWE would push someone like him to become a much bigger star than he was. Kenzo Suzuki may have been a fine in-ring performer, but his character lacked the charismatic attributes to become a main-event level star that fans can take seriously. And considering Kenzo Suzuki's English wasn't fluent, one can argue that his lack of English may have affected his ability to rise to a higher level on Smackdown.
Kenzo Suzuki wrestled his final match as a member of the Smackdown brand losing to Booker T on the February 26, 2005, episode of Velocity. After returning to Ohio Valley Wrestling as he was recovering from a lung injury, Kenzo Suzuki and Hiroki got traded to Raw in 2005. However, before appearing on Raw, both were released from their contracts on July 6, 2005.
