Though it may come as a bit of a surprise to AEW fans who are only familiar with “The Murderhawk Monster's” work in Tony Khan's company, for over a decade, Lance Archer has been a fixture of the Suzuki-Gun faction in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he's served as a heater for the baddest dude in the business, Mr. Kaze Ni Nare himself, Minoru Suzuki. Sharing the ring together on 196 occasions, according to Cagematch, Archer made that 197 at the Road to the Tokyo Dome, where Suzuki-Gun took on Suzuki-Gun in a battle for the ages that saw Zack Sabre Jr. retire the faction once and for all with a “Thank You Suzuki” and a Zack Driver for the win.

Understandably, this was an emotional match for all of the Suzuki-Gun-ers, as it marked the end of one of the most important factions in NJPW not named Bullet Club, but for Archer specifically, the closing of one door means the opening of another, and after a decade spent effectively working for someone else, the 45-year-old is ready to finally put himself first and get himself over like never before in his professional wrestling career, as he detailed to reporters at the end of the show.

“Make sure this gets on Twitter,” Archer asked as he held up a Suzuki-Gun logo shirt. “This has been a part of my life for about 11 years, a big part of my pro wrestling career. The one thing that has really pissed me off over the past few years. Do you know what? I’ve just done everything right, the way you are supposed to do it. I didn’t kiss anybody’s a–, I just came in and kicked a–. I didn’t play the political bullsh*t game and what has it gotten me? Absolutely nothing and I’m sick and f*cking tired of it. Do you know what I could be doing? You know what I should be doing. So return I return to the United States of America, when I return to AEW stop bullsh*tting me! Take the chains off of the monster. Let me do, what I’m supposed to do in this damn business. Somebody’s gonna f*cking pay. I’m sick and f*cking tired of it, sorry for the F-bombs, sorry for cussin’; I’ve been putting up with a lot of bullsh*t. I should be on top of the game, instead of stuck in limbo year, after year, after year, whether it’s New Japan Pro Wrestling or AEW, it doesn’t matter where I’ve been, I’ve been in limbo. No more! Never again! I change everything or you get f*cking delt with. This is my time now, I’m tired of you waiting to make up your minds. Let the monster loose.”

Oh snap! In a way, Archer is dead on; he's only worked 76 since arriving in AEW back in 2020, and of those matches, only 35 have been televised. Sure, he's wrestled for belts on five occasions, and even won the IWGP United States Championship on Dynamite in a match with Jon Moxley, but those aren't exactly the stats of a certified title contender, which, considering Archer's stature and status, is more or less the role he needs to fill. If Archer's words are heeded, he could be in good shape for a fun feud with Samoa Joe, Claudio Castagnoli, or even MJF, but if not, well, he might just force Khan to change his mind the hard way.

https://twitter.com/JJWilliamsWON/status/1606438318358536192?s=20&t=XcWbMsBwNNUFZS7xvaWYQw

ZSJ turned down WWE for a chance to work with Minoru Suzuki.

With Suzuki-Gun officially done, other members of the faction, most notably Zack Sabre Jr., used the opportunity to discuss changes of their own, including one to one of the most dangerous technical tag teams in NJPW, Dangerous Tekkers.

“Six years ago I had the choice between WWE and New Japan,” ZSJ said via Twitter user Ciarán. “I chose New Japan because Minoru Suzuki invited me into Suzuki-gun. It's more than a team, it's family. Today isn't just the end of Suzuki-gun, today's the end of Dangerous Tekkers.”

Now, for fans out of the know, ZSJ actually wrestled for WWE back in 2016, when he took part in the Cruiserweight Classic and secured wins over Tyson Dux, Noam Dar, and future WWE talent Drew Gulak before losing to Gran Metalik in the sem-finals. Though he ultimately chose to join NJPW instead of WWE, as he stated himself, it's worth wondering what could come next for the 35-year-old performer, as he still has the size/athleticism/look Triple H and company look for in a ready-made foreign star.