Suzu Suzuki: and how pain is the biggest motivator

In this piece I will talk about young phenom Suzu Suzuki. Let's go!

Feb 11, 2022

Suzuki made her in ring debut at 16 on Ice Ribbon’s biggest anual show Ribbonmania on 2018 in a near 9 minute winning effort against Asahi, and on the following year she’d have singles matches with talent of the caliber of Tsukasa Fujimoto, Tsukushi Haruka, Maya Yukihi, Hiroyo Matsumoto and Yoshiko just to name a few, it was clear from the start that there were high hopes regarding the newest young gun of the promotion, having also achieved a respectable amount of 38 wins on her first year.

Suzu arrived to Ice Ribbon and took it by storm because in just her rookie year, she already had a shot at the promotion’s most coveted price in the ICExInfinity championship against then champion Maya Yukihi, and 2 opportunities at IR’s tag team belts alongside Ibuki Hoshi against then champions Tsukasa Fujimoto and Tsukushi Haruka, one on December 1st and the second one being an exact year to the date after her wrestling debut on the same show that she had done it in the first place; 2019’s RibbonMania. Suzuki had a remarkable first campaign under Ice Ribbon, but the championship opportunities she was earning were not the only relevant matter for the rookie, because on just her 5th match ever she crossed paths with Giulia, teaming up with her and defeating Asahi and Tsukasa Fujimoto while doing so, this day would be the start of a strong bonding between Suzu and Giulia:

First exit to the road:

Suzuki and Giulia became really close with each other, they used to live in the same dorm at the IR dojo, they tagged together in the promotion and they wrestled each other in singles action as well, it felt like Giulia took Suzuki under her wing… until Giulia decided to take her wings and fly elsewhere. On October 13th 2019, Giulia suddenly requested her release from home promotion Ice Ribbon and then decided to join Stardom just a day after, leaving her tag partner that was bound to retire in Tequila Saya, who had to stay wrestling longer to cover up for the departure of Giulia and also leaving Suzu behind.

To say that this departure was controversial is a massive understatement, Giulia made a lot of people really angry with her move, from colleagues to promoters, fans and most importantly her friends, due to this departure and her close relationship with Suzuki, a chunk of people decided to pour their anger onto the 17 year old because of the career altering move made by the woman of the world. Suzu had to suffer the consequences of a move that didn’t involve her, had no say about it nor even any relevance around the matter. Suzuki felt betrayed after this, someone that she had trusted, shared the ring with and also spent a lot of time with outside of the squared circle, was the reason as to why she was suffering so much. This event could have been the last straw for any other 17 year old and they would’ve left pro wrestling for good and rightfully so, but Sukuzi used all of this pain to fuel her fire, and melt Ice Ribbon to her advantage.

Top of the Iceberg:

2020 would be the year where Suzuki went from being an exciting prospect into becoming a reality not only in Ice Ribbon but also in the whole world of Joshi Wrestling, she used all of this hatred, rage and heartbreak, to catapult herself into the main event picture of the promotion. She left her previous form, attire and reputation earned by a bicycle on camera spot that made her well known with a Chirin Chirin Chirin taunt that resembled the ringing of a bike, and she took a step forward by winning 31 out of her 35 singles matches that she’d have on 2020, having one draw against Akane Fujita and just 3 losses, one of those losses would be against then ICExInfinity champion Maya Yukihi. Suzuki had a phenomenal campaign and her incredible singles record would lead to a big reward.

Suzu Suzuki was seeking to capitalize on her outgoing momentum earned by multiple victories, and capitalize she did because on March 14th 2020 she had a new opportunity to face Tsukasa Fujimoto, previously both of them faced off 3 times on singles competition, having a record of 2 wins and one draw in favor of the ace of Ice Ribbon, but this time would be different because Suzuki had the ICExInfinity championship on her sight, and to have a right to even be considered for it she would have to defeat Fujimoto, and so she did. After a 17 minute effort Suzuki finally did it, she had beaten Tsukasa and gave a massive punch on the table that echoed all throughout Ice Ribbon, Suzu made her intentions clear, she wanted to be the champion. But to do so, she had to overcome another mountain that she wasn’t able to in then champion Maya Yukihi, having a 2 wins and no losses record in favor of the champion, Suzuki would try once again to defeat the champion on June 13th 2020 but she still failed to do so. Yet again Suzuki wasn't successful but she wouldn’t let any setbacks push her down, because just 2 months later she earned a new opportunity to finally break the curse and after going nearly 25 minutes versus Maya, Suzu Suzuki finally became the top of the iceberg.

Thirsty for blood:

Suzu Suzuki went on to reign Ice Ribbon for 167 days, defending the title successfully 4 times against Tsukushi Haruka, Haruka Umesaki, Tae Honma and close friend Saori Anou, before dropping the title to Tsukasa Fujimoto, Suzuki’s 2020 was a massive statement about who she is on the world of professional wrestling. For some this would be the happy ending that they were looking for, becoming the top dog at just 18 on your home promotion would be enough to many, but after losing the title Suzu Suzuki could finally set her eyes into a new challenge; deathmatch wrestling. Her at first seemingly new intentions of pursuing deathmatch wrestling seemed to come out of the blue to some, specially after having just came out of an ICExInfinity reign and having finally become a top star on the promotion, but deathmatches had always been a big part of Suzuki’s interest for wrestling itself.

She first got into it by watching men’s wrestling in the form of Kenta Kobashi’s Fortune Dream shows, as well as her attending Big Japan Pro Wrestling in person and little did she know that there were also women wrestling, this shook her massively because she hadn’t even thought of the possibility of joshi wrestling let alone women fighting men, and coincidentally enough the woman that she’d watch would be her future colleague and stablemate Risa Sera. After this event Suzu’s interest for pro wrestling grew massively and decided to become a wrestler herself, but before pursuing her love for deathmatch bouts she had to prove herself as a traditional wrestler first and that’s why she went after the ICExInfinity championship, to let everyone know that she could also do it the regular way, but her true love was deathmatch wrestling. After losing the belt she jumped onto a 7 deathmatch series against some of the toughest artists of this genre of matches; Yuko Miyamoto on the first and last match of the series, Takashi Sasaki, Masashi Takeda, Jun Kasai, Isami Kodaka, and Abdullah Kobayashi. The pattern was becoming clear in that Suzu would pursue a new challenge every new year, and 2022 wouldn’t be the exception.

Absence makes the heart grow colder:

A group of 5 joshi wrestlers from Ice Ribbon announced that at the end of 2021 they would be leaving the promotion to pursue their love for deathmatch wrestling, these 5 women were Risa Sera, Akane Fujita, Mochi Miyagi, Hiragi Kurumi and Suzu Suzuki, also known as Prominence. The group made their first appearence together on Wrestle Universe’s Gake No Fuchi show, that featured the group having separate bouts on it as well as wrestling together on the main event, and it would also be announced that the group would have their own show on Wrestle Universe and it would come with some try out performances on the platform, but there was a matter that didn’t let Suzuki sleep comfortably at night, Giulia.

Suzuki had never forgotten about Giulia’s betrayal to not only Ice Ribbon but to Suzu as well, and she wasn’t going to let Giulia go away freely after this, so on Stardom’s first PPV of the year Nagoya Supreme Fight the unthinkable happened, Prominence showed up on Stardom and wasted no time, calling out Giulia and entering a war against Donna Del Mondo while doing so. On one hand you have Giulia which had every right to seek greener pastures for herself and her own career which proved to be a great move immediately after going on a phenomenal singles run, growing her bank account exponentially, creating her own faction and winning many accolades, and on the other side of the spectrum you have Ice Ribbon and specially Suzuki that felt insulted by the manners in which the leader of the women of the world left them. Combine a strong bonding on their beginnings, a shocking departure and a betrayal, and you have the recipe for a blood feud between some of women’s wrestling shiniest stars. Suzuki has never beaten Giulia on singles action so far and I am sure that this fact bites her mind to this day, so it is a certainty that these 2 women will clash again and when they do, it will be a bloodbath.

Massive shout out to previous interviews that Suzuki has given to @WrestleInn and on Weekly Pro Wrestling #2079 with its translation made by @twf87 for giving me background about Suzuki’s origins!