How I Met Your Puroresu is a series dedicated to providing background information on matches in hopes of broadening horizons. These matches will be no longer than that of a sitcom as to not overwhelm a first time viewer.
Company: Ice Ribbon
Show Title: Yokohama Ribbon 2021 GW II
Match: Suzu Suzuki vs Jun Kasai
Length: 15 Minutes
Production Date: May 5, 2021
Air Date: May 5, 2021
How far are you willing to go in order to prove yourself? The now 18-year-old Suzu Suzuki captured the ICE×∞ Championship at the age of 17 and less than two years into her career. She racked up four successful defenses as champion before falling to company ace, Tsukasa Fujimoto, but Suzu wasn’t satisfied with shuffling down the card into a tag role. Instead, Suzu decided to push herself to another level with a series of matches dubbed the Suzu Suzuki Hardcore Determination Seven Match Series.
Not a month after suffering the defeat to Fujimoto, Suzu was tasked with a challenge by Yuko Miyamoto. A staple on the independent scene both for his hardcore and tag team work, Miyamoto has collected titles ranging from the BJW Death Match Heavyweight Championship to AJPW’s All Asia Tag Team Championship. Someone with his accolades being the first of seven proved the severity of this series.
The following month, Takashi Sasaki was next up on the list. Not only a legendary hardcore wrestler in his own right, Sasaki is also the founder of Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS, the trendiest death match promotion in the world. Although she no longer carried the top title in the company, Suzu kept herself in featured singles bouts that sometimes were able to steal the show.
Next up was her biggest challenge to date when the most celebrated death match wrestler of the 2010s stepped through the curtains of Ice Ribbon, Masashi Takeda. In a world dominated by politics, to be able to simultaneously hold the top titles of rival promotions is a serious feat and that’s what Takeda was able to manage in 2018 when he was both the BJW Death Match Heavyweight and King of FREEDOM Champion. Suzu Suzuki taking on this level of competition was seriously impressive but it’s about to get crazy.
I defy you to find an active wrestler within the death match community who has more clout than Jun Kasai. The 23-year veteran is the most battled tested warrior the style has to offer and is still relevant to this day. Earlier this year he managed to win an AJPW singles title where he was able to showcase his death match brand. Jun Kasai’s career has eclipsed Suzu’s life by half a decade and the experience advantage favors Kasai nearly 11:1. As great as the other challenges have been, this is certainly the peak in terms of prestige.
In a world plagued with a “good enough” attitude, it’s trailblazers like Suzu Suzuki whose work ethic shines a bright light on what can be done if you push yourself beyond the limit. She will not let a title run define her worth but instead find a way to shine despite all obstacles.
