9 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE SmackDown From 2004
3. Kenzo Suzuki Was A Fish Out Of Water
WWE originally wanted Kenzo Suzuki to work an offensive gimmick on Raw as a descendent of World War 2 Emperor Michi Hirohito, but the Japanese worker told them it wasn’t a good idea so they scrapped it. Wise decision. Eventually, Vince McMahon moved him to SmackDown instead, and he proceeded to look on as Kenzo worked some of the most boring matches/feuds of the year.
His rivalry with Billy Gunn was so milquetoast it nearly put fans in arenas to sleep, and Suzuki's tag-team with Rene Dupree was torturous despite a tag title reign. He just never seemed like a good fit for WWE’s style, and fans had a hard time caring about anything Kenzo did. It's so, so obvious looking back that he was never getting over.
They could've had Suzuki hand out free ice cream bars or bags of cash and he would've played before snoring. Something went badly wrong with his WWE run instantly, and nobody knew how to fix it. He didn't look as physically threatening as higher ups wanted him to, didn't carry himself as a top guy, and most of his matches were too basic to suck people in.
It's a sad day when Rene's silly dancing was the only thing of note about their double act.
Give WWE some credit: They were trying to expand horizons on the SmackDown roster by offering someone a little different, but Kenzo was right up there with other bland projects like Dan Severn or Sylvester Terkay. He was a little more Vladimir Kozlov than Eddie Guerrero, put it that way.