 Suwama in August 2023 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kohei Suwama (1976-11-23)November 23, 1976 (age 49)[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Kohei Suwama Suwama |
| Billed height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] |
| Billed weight | 120 kg (265 lb)[1] |
| Trained by | AJPW Dojo Hiroshi Hase Kaz Hayashi |
| Debut | October 11, 2004[1] |
Kohei Suwama (諏訪間 幸平,Suwama Kōhei; born November 23, 1976)[1] is a Japaneseprofessional wrestler better known simply asSuwama (諏訪魔). He is best known for his work inAll Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former record eight-timeTriple Crown Heavyweight Champion and a seven-timeWorld Tag Team Champion. He was also part of the promotion'sboard of directors until his departure in early 2025.
Suwama was scouted and recruited toAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) byHiroshi Hase, particularly because of his amateur wrestling background. He joined the All Japan dojo on March 1, 2004, and teamed with AJPW presidentKeiji Mutoh early in his career, defeating many of his seniors. In 2005, he defeated Muto in the 2005Champion Carnival.
Suwama aligned himself with theVoodoo Murdersstable on January 8, 2006, following aTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship match betweenSatoshi Kojima and stable leaderTaru. Upon joining the group, he officially changed his name to Suwama, which translates to "Suwa evil spirit".
He formed a team withRO'Z in early 2007, as the two set their sights on the vacantWorld Tag Team Championship. Their pursuit would be unsuccessful, asToshiaki Kawada andTaiyō Kea defeated them in a decision match for the vacant belts on February 17, 2007. Suwama was sent by the group to Orlando, Florida on July 2, 2007, in order to secureTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling starScott Steiner for All Japan's Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku, Vol. 3 event in Sumo Hall on August 26, 2007. Suwama had observed Steiner's match and shortly afterwards came to an agreement with Steiner to team with him and challenge the team ofThe Great Muta andTajiri. They were unsuccessful in the challenge.
For the rest of the year, Suwama mainly competed in six-man tags with Taru andSatoshi Kojima (who joined the group in July), but also had a short feud with rookie gaijinJoe Doering. Suwama teamed with Kojima in the 2008World's Strongest Tag Determination League, where they defeatedToshiaki Kawada andKensuke Sasaki to reach the finals, but lost toKeiji Mutoh andJoe Doering. Suwama and Kojima scored 10 points.
At All Japan's New Year's Shining Series show on January 3, 2008, Suwama savedKeiji Mutoh andJoe Doering from a post-match attack by the Voodoo Murders stable. After Suwama tore off his Voodoo Murders shirt, he shook hands with Mutoh and signaled his return to the All Japan Seikigun. On March 1, 2008, Suwama defeated Taru at Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku, Vol. 4. From April 5–9, Suwama participated in All Japan's annual Champion Carnival tournament, which he ultimately won on April 9 by defeatingNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) starHiroshi Tanahashi in the finals. Suwama finished the Carnival group stage with 2 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw, which earned him 5 points.
On April 29, 2008, Suwama defeatedKensuke Sasaki to win the All Japan Triple Crown Championship.
Suwama first defended the Triple Crown on June 28, 2008, againstOsamu Nishimura, beating Nishimura with the Last Ride. Suwama challengedTaiyo Kea andMinoru Suzuki on August 3, 2008 for the World Tag Team Championship teaming with Osamu Nishimura but did not win the belts. Suwama's second defense of the Triple crown was on August 31, 2008 versus Taiyo Kea it went to a 60-minute time limit draw. Suwama team up withRyuji Hijikata in theAll Asia Tag Team Championship tournament on January 2–3, 2009 to crown new All Asia Tag Team Champions. Suwama and Hijikata got eliminated in the first round of the tournament by losing to Satoshi Kojima andKai when Kojima used a lariat on Hijikata. Suwama andShuji Kondo defeated Joe Doering andZodiac on March 1, 2009, to become the number one contenders for the World Tag Team Championship, but did not win the championship from Taiyō Kea and Minoru Suzuki. On August 29, 2010, Suwama defeated Minoru Suzuki to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the second time. He would go on to lose the title toJun Akiyama on October 23, 2011.
In later 2012, Suwama formed theLast Revolution tag team with Joe Doering, which in early 2013 was also joined byKaz Hayashi, Shuji Kondo andYasufumi Nakanoue.[2][3][4] On March 17, Suwama defeatedMasakatsu Funaki to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the third time.[5] In June, Joe Doering disbanded Last Revolution, when Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo announced their resignation from All Japan following Nobuo Shiraishi taking over as the new president of All Japan and Keiji Mutoh leaving the promotion.[4] While several other wrestlers also quit All Japan following the change in management, Suwama emerged as one of the first wrestlers to publicly show his support to Shiraishi, announcing that he was going to be staying in the promotion.[6] In September, Suwama came back together with Joe Doering, with the two forming a tag team named "Evolution".[7] On October 22, Evolution defeatedBurning (Go Shiozaki and Jun Akiyama) to win the World Tag Team Championship, making Suwama the first "Quintuple Crown Champion" in 12 years.[8][9] However, just five days later, Suwama lost the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship toAkebono.[10] On December 8, Evolution defeatedXceed (Go Shiozaki andKento Miyahara) in the finals to win the2013 World's Strongest Tag Determination League.[11] On February 16, 2014,Hikaru Sato joined Suwama and Doering, turning Evolution into a stable.[12] On June 28, Suwama and Doering lost the World Tag Team Championship toWild Burning (Jun Akiyama andTakao Omori).[13] However, the next day, Suwama defeated Omori to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the fourth time.[14] That same day Suwama was made a part of All Japan's newboard of directors.[15] He was later also given the title of "senior managing director".[16] On July 27, Suwama lost the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship to his Evolution stablemate Joe Doering.[17] In December 2015, Suwama resigned from his senior managing director role.[18] On January 2, 2016, Suwama defeated Jun Akiyama to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the fifth time.[19] However, Suwama was stripped of the title only ten days later after suffering anachilles tendon rupture.[20]
_2018.jpg)
Suwama returned to the ring on July 14, 2016.[21] On September 19, Suwama defeatedZeus in the finals to win the2016 Ōdō Tournament.[22] Suwama would then unsuccessfully challenge the Triple Crown Heavyweight ChampionKento Miyahara on November 27.[23] On September 23, 2017, Suwama won his secondŌdō Tournament in a row.[24] On October 9, Suwama defeated Miyahara to win the Triple Crown for a record sixth time.[25][26] He lost the title to Joe Doering on October 21.[27]
On November 19, Suwama allied withShuji Ishikawa to enter theWorld's Strongest Tag Determination League, which the two won by defeating Daichi Hashimoto and Hideyoshi Kamitani in the finals. On January 3, 2018, the two won the World Tag Team Championship by defeatingWild Burning (Takao Omori and Jun Akiyama). They dropped the belts to Kento Miyahara and Yoshi Tatsu on February 3.Between April 7 and April 30, Suwama took part in theChampion Carnival, winning four matches and losing three. He was unable to reach the finals, but scored an important victory against eventual winnerNaomichi Marufuji.
Kohei Suwama is the father ofJapanesefootballer, Kosei Suwama.[28][29][30]
Kosei is currently enrolled toTsukuba University, the same university which attended byJapan National Football Team players such asKaoru Mitoma andShogo Taniguchi. He was a member ofYokohama F. Marinos youth team. Kosei is set to return to the club in 2026 as a full-time member of the first team. For2025, he is still registered asdesignated special player.[31][32]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
