, better known simply as Suwa (stylized in all capital letters), is a retired

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. He originally retired from professional wrestling in 2007, but later returned for a short period of time in 2013 as

Maybach Taniguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler who has worked for Pro Wrestling Noah since his debut in December 2005. He is also known by the ring name , under which he portrays a villainous masked character. Professional wrestling career Amateur backg ...

Jr before a cervical spine injury forced him to retire once again.

Professional wrestling career

Toryumon and Dragon Gate

Suwa, one of

Último Dragón , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler signed to Dragon Gate (wrestling), Dragon Gate, where he acts as an in-ring talent, trainer and senior advisor. In addition to having trained in Japan, ...

's first trainees, made his professional wrestling debut on the first card of Dragon's Toryumon promotion on May 11, 1997. He went on to become one of the founding fathers of the Crazy Max faction along with

Cima Cima may refer to: Acronyms *The Center for International Media Assistance, a media development organization in Washington, DC * Center for Italian Modern Art * Centre International de la Mécanique d'Art (International centre for Art Mechanics), ...

, Taru, and

Don Fujii , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese wrestler who currently works for Dragon Gate. He was one-half of the inaugural Open the Owarai Twin Gate Champions and is also a former two-time Open the Twin Gate Champions with Masaaki Mochizuk ...

, being portraited as a cocky and aggressive

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

. Suwa won the

Último Dragón Gym Championship The Último Dragón Gym Championship (also shortened to UDG Championship) was a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the Japanese promotion Toryumon Japan. It was established in April 2003 as an award for the winner of the ...

, the promotion's top title, from Magnum Tokyo on February 8, 2004. He held it for two months before a shoulder injury suffered in a match with

Dragon Kid is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for Dragon Gate as . Nakamura initially broke into the wrestling business with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW), but was not allowed to be a wrestler by owner Atsushi Onita and instead ...

forced him to vacate the belt. Later that same year, Suwa signed with Pro Wrestling Noah.

Pro Wrestling Noah

Soon after his arrival in Noah, on September 18, 2005, he challenged

Kenta Kenta (廉侍) is a masculine Japanese given name. (written: , , , or in katakana). Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese film director *, Japanese kickboxer *, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japane ...

for the

GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), title in Japanese Professional wrestling promotion, promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, contested exclusively among Cruiserweight (professional wrestling), junior heavyweight (<100 ...

. Suwa was originally disqualified for attacking Kenta with a foreign object, but the match was restarted, and Suwa eventually lost. On December 10, 2006, Suwa teamed with Taru,

Shuji Kondo is a Japanese people, Japanese professional wrestler. Prior to becoming a pro wrestler, he played Rugby union, rugby. After starting his career in Dragon Gate (wrestling), Toryumon, Kondo eventually joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where h ...

and

brother YASSHI , better known by his ringname "brother" Yasshi (stylised as "brother"YASSHI), is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler, known for his appearances in El Dorado Wrestling, Dragon Gate (wrestling), Dragon Gate, and All Japan Pro ...

during an eight man tag team match against

Akira Taue is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his runs in All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah, where he worked for all of his career in both promotions. A former sumo wrestler who went under the name , he retire ...

, Mushiking Terry,

Atsushi Aoki was a Japanese professional wrestler who worked for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a wrestler, president of talent relations and head trainer at their dojo. Aoki began his career in Pro Wrestling Noah in 2005, where he went on to become a tw ...

and Taiji Ishimori. After his team lost the match, Suwa announced his intention to retire from wrestling. In his last match, on January 21, 2007, he teamed up with

Yoshihiro Takayama is a Japanese former professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Debuting for UWF International (UWFI) in the 1990s, Takayama joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1997 after UWF-i folded. In 2000, he joined Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), an ...

and

Minoru Suzuki (born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, known for his tenure in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Intercontinental Ch ...

, losing to Kenta,

Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. Marufuji is a four-time GHC Heavyweight Champion, as well as the first of two men to win Junior Heavyweight Championships in all three major Japanese ...

and

Takeshi Rikio Takeshi Inoue (born December 20, 1972) known by his stage name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, who worked for Pro Wrestling Noah. He is also a former sumo wrestler. Sumo career He made his sumo debut in March 1988, after leavi ...

. During the match, Suwa turned on his partners. Suwa retired from professional wrestling on March 11, 2007. In January 2013, Suwa returned to Noah under a

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

as "Maybach Taniguchi, Jr.", a junior version of

and a member of No Mercy. However, when Taniguchi turned on No Mercy leader Kenta on February 9, Taniguchi, Jr. did not follow him, but instead remained loyal to No Mercy. On March 10, Taniguchi, Jr. and No Mercy stablemate

Genba Hirayanagi , better known by his ring name , is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. He is best known for working for Pro Wrestling Noah. Career Hirayanagi was a competitor in amateur wrestling in high school. In June 2004 he entered the Pro Wrestling ...

defeated

Ricky Marvin Ricardo Fuentes Romero (born January 8, 1980) is a second-generation Mexican professional wrestler, known by his ring name Ricky Marvin, and is most known for his work in the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. Between 2005 and 2007, he al ...

and

Super Crazy Francisco Islas Rueda (born December 3, 1973), better known by his ring name Super Crazy, is a Mexican '' luchador'' (or professional wrestler). In Mexico, Islas has worked for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and made appearances ...

to win the

GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team Championship (professional wrestling), title in Japanese Professional wrestling promotion, promotion Pro Wrestling Noah, contested exclusively among Cruiserweight (professional wrestling), junior heavywei ...

. On March 31, the two Taniguchis faced off in a grudge match, during which Taniguchi unmasked Taniguchi, Jr., revealing him as Suwa, before pinning him for the win. Following the event, Suwa abandoned the Taniguchi, Jr. gimmick and returned to working under his surname. On May 11 at Final Burning in Budokan, Suwa suffered a cervical spine injury and was replaced on all upcoming cards by "''Maybach Suwa Jr''", portrayed by

Hajime Ohara is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Ohara worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico for several years as part of his training, mixing the ''lucha libre'' style of Mexico with the Japanese Puroresu style ...

. The injury also forced Suwa and Hirayanagi to vacate the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on May 30. In December 2014, Suwa announced he was suffering from ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) and would have to pull out of his scheduled return to the ring.

Championships and accomplishments

*Distrito Federal **

Distrito Federal Trios Championship The Distrito Federal Trios Championship is a ''Trios'' (six-man) tag team Championship (professional wrestling), Championship primarily promoted by the Mexico, Mexican Lucha libre professional wrestling promotion International Wrestling Revolutio ...

( 1 time) – with Shiima Nobunaga and Sumo Fuji *

International Wrestling Revolution Group International Wrestling Revolution Group (Grupo Internacional Revolución in Spanish language, Spanish; the Spanish name is used for the promotion while the English initials are used for the title governing body) is a Lucha Libre professional wres ...

Copa Higher Power The ''Copa Higher Power'' (Spanish for "Cup of Higher Power") is an annual tournament promoted by the Mexican ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion International Wrestling Revolution Group International Wrestling Revolution Group (Gru ...

(1998) – with Lyguila, Magnum Tokyo,

Ryo Saito (born August 15, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestling personality and semi-retired professional wrestler primarily working in Dragongate, where he is their general manager. He is a former member of numerous stables within Dragongate as bo ...

, Shiima Nobunaga, Sumo Fujii and

Michinoku Pro Wrestling (originally known as North Eastern Wrestling) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded by The Great Sasuke on October 1, 1992. It was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rathe ...

**Futaritabi Tag Team League (1999) – with

* Pro Wrestling Noah **

( 1 time) – with

* Toryumon Japan **

British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship The British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that although being created in England, was most notorious in Japan. History Not long after its creation in 1995, the title made its way to Michin ...

( 1 time) **

NWA World Welterweight Championship The NWA World Welterweight Championship () is an inactive professional wrestling championship governed by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and most recently promoted by NWA Mexico. The championship was originally created in 1946 by the Mexica ...

( 1 time) **

UWA World Trios Championship The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. Since then, the championship has been defended in various p ...

( 3 times) – with

and

**One Night Tag Tournament (2002) – with Taru **One Night Tag Tournament (2002) – with

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suwa, Takahiro 1975 births Japanese male professional wrestlers Living people Sportspeople from Kagoshima Prefecture GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions NWA World Welterweight Champions 20th-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Champions UWA World Trios Champions