Minoru Suzuki will face Jon Moxley for the IWGP United States Championship this Sunday from Osaka, Japan. Suzuki spoke with NJPW1972.com about his new rival.
“He’s a guy who stepped in my house and didn’t take his shoes off at the front door,” Suzuki said about Moxley. “The ‘former WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose’. Changed his look up a bit and here he is. Look, I’ve been watching him for a while, yeah. Can he grapple? No. Is he strong? No. Tough? No. He can’t do s**t.”
Suzuki would continue to say, however, that Moxley stands out despite the things he can’t do.
“It’s a bit of a paradox, but it’s because of that he got chances in WWE. There’s nobody else like him, right? Nobody in the majors in America is like him. So he stands out. Nobody gets that,” Suzuki continued. “Look. An absolute all-round perfectionist, the perfect complete player, tens in every category? Not even Tanahashi is that. Naito isn’t that. They don’t exist.”
Suzuki then spoke about what goes into rating how good a pro-wrestler is.
“Everyone in this business is a mark, you included. You fans have this idea of ratings, of skill points. You put all those points in a hexagon graph and calculate an average; ‘oh he’s a good wrestler, over 80 overall’. BS. Who the hell will pay money to buy a ticket, and see a guy who’s a perfect hexagon, 8 out of 10 or above in all areas? The guy with zero overall, the guy who can’t do anything at all, he’s a better draw.”
Suzuki would conclude that even though Moxley might not be the most skilled wrestler, he has an intangible feel to him that makes people take notice.
“He has something very special about him,” Suzuki concluded.
Suzuki also gave his thoughts on WWE’s international expansion.
“They’re going into all these countries, buying up promotions, snatching away talent, and sapping the business there. But the one place they haven’t been able to do that yet? Japan. Japan and Mexico are the only places that have carried a strong sense of wrestling culture that was uniquely theirs. Business is down in Mexico. WWE are getting their claws in there, too. But they haven’t come here yet, because Japanese wrestling has too much presence. Uniquely Japanese wrestling does.”
The full interview with Minoru Suzuki can be read here.
