Keiji Mutoh

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Muto was an accomplished amateur wrestler and a judo black belt prior to being trained by Hiro Matsuda in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling Dojo. He debuted on October 5, 1984, against Shunji Takano. In 1985, Muto was sent on his first learning excursion to the United States, wrestling in Championship Wrestling from Florida as the 'White Ninja'. During his first excursion, Muto became a one-time NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion and a one-time NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Champion. Muto returned to New Japan in 1986, where he was nicknamed 'Space Lone Wolf'. In March 1987, Muto won the IWGP Tag Team Championship with Shiro Koshinaka, before losing the titles seven days later. In the summer of 1987, Muto took part in the NOW vs. NEW feud, aligning himself with Antonio Inoki and his group.

In Their Own Story

On January 4, 1992, Muto headlined the Super Warriors in Tokyo Dome event as Great Muta by teaming with Sting for the first time ever to defeat The Steiner Brothers at the Tokyo Dome. This was the first January 4 Tokyo Dome Show, which would become the flagship event for NJPW. On August 16, Muto donned his Great Muta persona to beat Riki Choshu to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time, thus winning the first world championship of his professional wrestling career. He successfully defended the title against Shinya Hashimoto, Scott Norton, and Sting. On December 14, Muta faced Hiroshi Hase in a famous match where Hase used a foreign object to beat at Muta's forehead. Muta bled profusely for the rest of the match, and to this day he still bears scars from where he sliced.

Reader's Guide

Keiji Muto debuted in New Japan Pro-Wrestling on October 5, 1984, against Masahiro Chono. He is known for popularizing or innovating moves such as the Shining Wizard, Moonsault (also known as the Rounding Body Press), Muta Lock, and the Dragon-screw leg-whip. He took part in what was generally considered to be one of the bloodiest professional wrestling matches at the time against Hiroshi Hase, leading to the creation of the 'Muta scale', which rates the bloodiness of matches relative to this one's 1.0 value. Muto is one of the five wrestlers to win the three major championships of puroresu (AJPW's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC Heavyweight Championship). He also held the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, making him an overall nine-time world champion.

Did You Know?

• Muto debuted on October 5, 1984, against Shunji Takano.
• He is one of several wrestlers to win the three major championships of puroresu: AJPW's Triple Crown, NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight, and Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC Heavyweight.
• The 'Muta scale' was created to rate the bloodiness of matches relative to his 1990 match against Hiroshi Hase, which was given a value of 1.0.
• Muto held 33 championships throughout his 38-year career.
• His retirement match occurred on February 21, 2023, at the Tokyo Dome against Tetsuya Naito.

The Evolution of a Global Icon

Keiji Muto is known for his work under his real name and as his alter ego The Great Muta in NJPW, as well as WCW and during the 1980s and 1990s, and from his runs in other Japanese, American, Puerto Rican, and Mexican promotions. Considered one of the greatest and most influential wrestlers of all time, Muto is one of the first Japanese wrestlers to gain an international fanbase in the 1990s and beyond, thanks in large part to his Great Muta gimmick. The gimmick is one of the most influential in puroresu, emulated by many wrestlers, and seen as the most prevalent of Muto's alter egos. Muto first appeared as 'Great Mota' in the NWA's World Championship Wrestling territory on the March 18, 1989 edition of WCW Saturday Night. His manager Gary Hart introduced him as the son of the Great Kabuki. Muto's name would eventually be changed to 'The Great Muta'. Muta would feud with stars like Lex Luger, Ric Flair, and Sting, from whom he would capture the WCW World Television Championship on September 3, 1989.

Innovation in Technique and Spectacle

Many wrestlers copied or modified some of the moves that Muto popularized or innovated, such as the Shining Wizard, Moonsault (also known as the Rounding Body Press), Muta Lock, and the Dragon-screw leg-whip. He took part in what was generally considered to be one of the bloodiest professional wrestling matches at the time against Hiroshi Hase, leading to the creation of the 'Muta scale', which rates the bloodiness of matches relative to this one's 1.0 value. On December 14, Muta faced Hiroshi Hase in a winning effort in a famous match where Hase used a foreign object to beat at Muta's forehead, as payback for their previous encounters, including the September 14, 1990 encounter, in which Muta busted Hase open. Muta bladed and cut very deeply into his forehead. As a result of this, Muta bled profusely for the rest of the match, and to this day he still bears scars from where he sliced.

An Unmatched Championship Pedigree

Muto is one of the five wrestlers to win the three major championships of puroresu (AJPW's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC Heavyweight Championship) with Kensuke Sasaki, Yoshihiro Takayama, Satoshi Kojima, and Yuji Nagata. He also held the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, making him an overall nine-time world champion. He is also a 13-time world tag team champion with five AJPW World Tag Team Championships, six IWGP Tag Team Championships, one GHC Tag Team Championship, and one WCW World Tag Team Championship. In total, he held 32 championships throughout his 38-year career.

Executive Leadership and Final Bow

Muto was the president of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) from 2002 to 2013 and representative director of Wrestle-1 (W-1) from 2013 until its closure in 2020. In 2013, Muto founded W-1, where he also wrestled semi-regularly. He made special appearances for the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, renamed Impact Wrestling in 2017) from 2014 to 2019, as part of a talent exchange with W-1. In June 2022, Muto announced that he would retire in 2023. His retirement match occurred on February 21, 2023, in the Tokyo Dome during Noah's Keiji Muto Grand Final Pro-Wrestling 'Last-Love' event against Tetsuya Naito. In April 2023, Muto was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

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