10 Wrestlers Scarier Than The Fiend

2. Minoru Suzuki

Fiend Doink
NJPW

Minoru Suzuki carries an inherent, scary threat because his work is so legitimate. He's a hard, hard bastard who smacks the sweat off his opponents with his rapid barrage of open-palm slaps and renders them incapacitated with his expert submission savvy.

But Suzuki ascends to the terrifying with his use of facial expressions. The man looks deranged at his peak; the glee with which he torments his opponents creates a tremendous sense of peril. His wide-eyed happiness looks sickening because the contrast is so off. He is torturing people, and this, to him, is a wholesome joy. He is exalted when delivering pain.

He is exalted when receiving pain. The pain drives him, and the balance of the performance is perfect. It never once descends into dreaded whacky realm because there's so much intricate substance to the foundation of his pro wrestling, and what's ironic is that Minoru Suzuki, black trunks, black boots, a shooter, is one of the greatest pro wrestlers and sports entertainers of all time.

His age helps enormously. There's an inherent, authoritative Final Boss quality to his work, and that he is so sudden and deadly in his movement creates the effect of a jump scare, when he latches onto his opponents from rope-run deception.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!