Minoru Suzuki, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
Minoru Suzuki (鈴木 実, Suzuki Minoru, ring name: 鈴木 みのる) (born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he is the provisional KOPW in his first reign. In NJPW, Suzuki has held the IWGP Intercontinental Championship as well as the NEVER Openweight Championship twice. He is also a former British Heavyweight Champion and co-holder of the Undisputed British Tag Team Championship alongside fellow Suzuki-gun stablemate, Zack Sabre Jr. in Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW).
Suzuki was the co-founder of Pancrase, one of the first mixed martial arts organizations in the world. During the 1990s, he was widely considered one of the best fighters in the world and was the second King of Pancrase world champion. Suzuki returned to regular puroresu in 2003, when he has become a perennial top contender for all major Japanese heavyweight championships. He is also known for his time in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is two-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, and Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion and a former GHC Tag Team Champion along with Naomichi Marufuji.
A mixed martial arts pioneer, Suzuki is well noted for his excellence in freestyle wrestling and catch wrestling, and has been praised many times by elite fighters such as Josh Barnett, Bas Rutten, and Ken Shamrock for his outstanding grappling and submission skills.
1968Jun, 17
Minoru Suzuki
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Events on 1968
- 30Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies. - 31Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive. - 29Apr
Counterculture of the 1960s
The controversial musical Hair, a product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, opens at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway, with some of its songs becoming anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement. - 14Oct
U.S. Marine Corps
Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps will send about 24,000 soldiers and Marines back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours of duty in the combat zone there. - 20Oct
Jacqueline Kennedy
Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.