What is kinda ironic is that KENTA, as part of Bullet Club, pulls from the SUWA heel playbook. It makes you wonder what would happen if SUWA made a comeback.
KENTA was such an awesome wrestler. Got the privilege to see him wrestle Bryan Danielson many times in NYC with ROH. His "Wasted years" in NXT is an indictment on how badly many people were mismanaged there.
Like who? KENTA failed in WWE because he was 5'7", injury prone, wore brown trunks, and had no discernable personality whatsoever. It only proves that KENTA couldn't hang in the big league's, and that even the WWE machine can't make everyone a star. Yes, they have made some mistakes with SOME talent over the years, but those people usually end up where they're supposed to be anyway. I think the success rate is kind of speaking for itself as we speak, considering most of the world's current top talent came through NXT, so what exactly do you mean by "many"? Seriously! I can't think of a whole lot of people that they dropped the ball with. It sounds like you're sipping a little too much of that Meltzer sauce from where I am sitting.
@@alexandertroy9621 I agree with nearly all of this, and I say this as a guy who grew up in the old school NWA/WCW camp: The WWE while I haven’t always been a fan historically HAS put out great product, and they’ve developed major talent over the years. Also, it’s true: It’s not the WWE’s fault Kenta spent most of his time in the fed on the injury list, and his ability to get himself over was tepid at best. Though I’ll argue that NJPW is as much a big league promotion as the WWE and he’s done well there the last few years. So he’s probably where he should’ve been from the beginning.
@KhalilSalam-sy6ox Kayfabe, son! You gotta add 2 inches to everyone's "official" height in pro-wrestling. I've never stood next to him, but I have stood next to people who have, and he AIN'T 5'9"! Are you new? Japanese wrestling USED to be special. At one time, they may have been able to claim that they had the best in the world. Up until the turn of the millennium, the women COULD claim to be the best. But don't act like NJPW is now anything more than a last resort for people who aren't good enough to get booked in the west! It's AEW with stupid hair! And yes, I am a WWE "mark"! I don't use the word "Stan" because I am an adult. An adult who has clearly been into this stuff for longer than you have been alive. So check yourself, Junior.
SUWA is a guy who made Toryumon the great promotion that Dragon Gate has since become. He's been out of wrestling for a while but is active on social media
For an emotional reaction, KENTA winning the Jr title from Kanemaru was a huge deal to me. I was on the edge of my seat hoping he would win. For sheer giggles his Takeover matches teaming with Shibata in NOAH were really really fun.
As someone who didn’t watch any pero, you are legit my history teacher and I cannot express my thanks enough. Appreciate all the research and effort that go into thesw
I LOVED SUWA in Toryumon/Dragon Gate. He always had a scowl on his face. Some great matches with Dragon Kid. He really could sell Kid's ranas. Always liked his "John Woo" dropkick.
This really makes me want to see you cover more Dragon Gate / Toryumon content with the mention of SUWA, I had no idea who this dude was either but he seems pretty dope and KENTA is one of the people who actually got me interested in both puro and the Jr Heavyweights when I was first discovering both indy wrestling and puro.
OMG dude ! You killed it with this incredible video . NOAH was absolutely on fire since its inception for several or so years . Toryumon was doing great too . I first saw Judo Suwa there rocking his Predator inspired gear . There is so much I want to comment about on here but I will TRY to keep it short . First off , undeniably epic match . Plus you cover it all so well from start to finish that any wrestling fan or even non fans may wanna check it out after this !! It makes me want to seek out all these matches showcased even though I have seen a bunch of it , this is the kind of wrestling you can watch over and over again and still love every second . Excellent job . My words don't do you enough Justice , Kim . Thank you . I truly love your vids . Keep these coming please .
Dragon Kid is still going in Dragon Gate and is still quite good. He’s in his 40s-50s now but doesn’t seem like it. He’s hit the fountain of youth. Recently he had his first match in the USA in like a decade at Hiromu Takahashi & Rocky Romero’s promoted All Star Junior Festival USA show. Believe it was a multi man match between Kid, CMLL’s Fugaz & Soberano Jr, Lio Rush and KC Navarro. He also was on the All Star Junior festival in Japan earlier this year in a match that also included Mistico, Atlantis Jr, Billy Ken Kid and more. He also has a successor in Dragon Gate of “Dragon Dia” who is carrying the dragon legacy from Kid who is carrying it from Ultimo Dragon
Ah, well, like Meltzer said recently in an interview that all his 4🌟 ratings are basicly 5 🌟s. Who could have guessed that a man's arbitrary metric for matches could be so loose
Oh wow, I've seen your content before but saw someone mention you'd done a video on this match & came to watch. I didn't realise this match meant anything to anyone else. This was my first introduction to KENTA, Noah & probably Japanese Pro wrestling in general. I remember tuning into 'The Wrestling Channel" at around 2 in the morning & seeing this match & being blown away. KENTA instantly became my favourite wrestler & Noah my favourite promotion. I followed his career through the injuries, the switch to Heavyweight, the Ghc Championship win & his move to America. I still watch this match every few years for the nostalgia & as a reminder why i fell in love with 'Puroresu.'
Another banger as always!!! This is my first time “seeing” Suwa (loved everything in this vid I’m definitely going back to his match history) and its very sad the business took its toll on him, but refreshing to see someone get out before it’s too late for once
dude i totally forgot that all this shit was apart of the plan until i saw that neckbreaker at 16:43. i was literally so invested into suwa's work that i forgot this was wrestling.
I love these match deep dives and the way you present them is amazing! I hope you do more like this, it really helps me fall back in love with pro wrestling. The more I watch/learn about the Japanese wrestling product the more I love it. Hard hitting matches that tell a story in the ring, like it’s meant to be.
SUWA was a right bastard, wasn't he? The only heel I can think that's worse that SUWA is Suzuki Minoru. It's unfortunate that he had to permanently retire back in 2013.
Nothing gets me more hyped to watch some old NOAH matches or just wrestling in general than a Kim Justice video [just in time too as WWE has a house show in my city tomorrow].
Just found this channel but I absolutely love it. I just recently got into Japanese wrestling and it's hard to go back and find like the context of each match and rivalry . I can find all of the matches but with a language barrier it's hard to get much context. I really like to see some Hayabusa's best rivalries highlighted in the future. Thanks keep up the great work
Awesome video 💯 I love anything Pro Wrestling Noah from the 2000s keep up the amazing work and I hope you can do a deep dive into the Noah from the 2010s 💪
I remember seeing SUWA as Judo Suwa in WCW a few times years ago, so when I saw the title for this vid, I immediately thought "Wait. As in that Judo Suwa from WCW?" This is making wonder how his sometimes partner in that WCW run, Sumo Fuji, did before and after.
Great review. I look forward to more Suwa matches. Would you consider chronicling Yoshiro Takayama's career pre and post his life altering ring accident. Keep up the great work.
Yay more of Kim's puro videos. As I said last time, my knowledge of the topic and interest in it overall is zero, but damn, you make it entertaining and informative. HUGE KUDOS, gurl.
What are your thoughts on the Ilija Dragonov vs Walter match for the NXT UK Title on TV a few years back? I know WWE is a jerk with copyrights but I fee it’s on of the best out there in brutality in non gimmick matches
I'm not sure if this comment will get an answer: But does anyone know the song that's playing in the background of the SUWA vs. KENTA match? I just assumed that it was SUMA's theme song but apparently it isn't as I don't think his theme song has lyrics (at least not the theme of his I found on RU-vid).
I wondered why Suwa vanished . Now I know ! Also speaking of Toyumon/Dragon Gate alum , whatever happened to Dragon Kid ? He was doing some outrageous stuff for his time . I thought he was gonna be the next Rey Mysterio type figure to hit in the mainstream scene back then . Also this video made me think of the KENTA vs. Marufuji rivalry . Talk about some awesome jr. matches ! You should do a vid on them two . Or wait , did you already ?
going back and watching EARLY SUWA matches that i can find, it kinda amazes me that DG didn't try and lock him up for a longer contract when they had a chance, he would have been a good building block as a Top Heel(and eventual top tweener/face much later on) but at least he got to go and show his 100% potential in NOAH; also a heads up CIMA is pronounced "Shee-mah", not "see ma", you can still see some of SUWA's tricks and even offense in Yasushi Kanda(a Toryumon/DG compatriot of his) as he kinda inherited the style of SUWA after SUWA left the company and Kanda finally was healthy enough to get back into the ring
Never heard of SUWA before (didn't watch NOAH/AJPW/NJPW during this time) but I love this guy already. *Edit* if was in FMW back in the day he'd be in team no respect
I 100% agree that SUWA was a very underrated heel, the dude would make Eddie Guerrero look clean as a whistle with all his cheating but like Eddie, he could absolutely go in the ring too when it was time for that
Because Misawa was many power levels (in kayfabe) above Kenta at that time. The fact that this new move got MISAWA down for a 2.9 meant that it's gonna put down almost everyone else, like 95% of the whole roster. Basically same vibes as losing a match against a way stronger opponent, but then your opponent says "he almost had me there for a second, I barely survived him". Or you know, ending of Rocky I and how we got a rematch for Rocky 2.
Kenta had a hard time getting over in the US because by the time he got here, all the shit that made him cool had been stolen by American wrestlers (Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, NOVA, etc...)
Some small notes from a DG/Toryumon historian The split between DG and SUWA was not a nice one. SUWA hated DG Ace Magnum TOKYO (like most backstage) And with Ultimo gone felt like Magnum was going crazy (Magnums nickname was Mr. Egoist after all and not far from the truth) The unpopularity of Magnum is also the reason Milano Collection A.T. left and ended up on the US indys and later NJPW. Magnum was infact so unpopular he is still not welcome at any DG reunion or anniversary show, thats why his comeback was in HUSTLE not in DG. SUWA's FFF is pronounced Triple F and sadly doesnt stand for "Fucking Fucking Fucking" but bather "Full Flat Face". Also side Note DG is not an indy promotion anymore
