Keiji Mutoh

Japanese professional wrestler

Keiji Mutoh (武藤 敬司, Mutō Keiji, born December 23, 1962) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He first gained international fame during his time in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He is best known for his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) where he competed under the ring name The Great Muta in the 1990s. Mutoh is a former owner and president of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and was a full-time wrestler for them from 2002 to 2013. Mutoh has also served military service in Japan and was able to reach the rank of master sergeant.

Keiji Mutoh
Keiji Mutoh in November 2009
Born (1962-12-23) December 23, 1962 (age 61)
Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Bach Mutoh
The Black Ninja
The Great Mota
The Great Muta
Keiji Mutoh
Kokushi
Kokushi-Muso
The Space Lone Wolf
The Super Black Ninja
The Super Ninja
Viet Cong Ming
The White Ninja
Billed height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Billed weight110 kg (240 lb)
Billed fromThe Land of the Rising Sun
Trained byHiro Matsuda
DebutOctober 5, 1984
RetiredFebruary 21, 2023

He is credited as one of the first Japanese wrestlers to gain a fan base outside of his native Japan in the United States. His Great Muta gimmick is one of the most influential gimmicks in puroresu. He is one of three wrestlers to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Mutoh is an eight-time World Champion, having held the NWA World Title once, the IWGP Title four times, and AJPW's Triple Crown three times. He also has held a dozen World Tag Team Championships in the U.S. and Japan. Between NJPW, AJPW, and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Mutoh has held 21 total championships.

Mutoh is also known for competing in what is generally considered to be the bloodiest professional wrestling match of all time against Hiroshi Hase, which lead to the creation of the "Muta Scale".[1]

He is the founder of Wrestle-1 (W-1) and is the current owner of the promotion. He also wrestles for it semi-regularly, and also makes occasional special appearances for the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as part of a TNA/W-1 talent exchange partnership.

On March 31, 2023, Mutoh was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Ric Flair.[2]

In wrestling

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Championships

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1Championship not officially recognized by All Japan Pro Wrestling.
2Championship reign not officially recognized due to outside interference.

References

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  1. "Complete Playbook: The Great Muta Vol. 2 Revenge of Muta Commercial Tape". 411mania. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
  2. "Great Muta To Be Inducted Into 2023 WWE Hall Of Fame". Fightful. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  3. "Unified Triple Crown Heavyweight Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  4. "World Tag Team Title (AJPW) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  5. "All Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 2010". Purolove. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  6. "チャンピオンカーニバル 歴史". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-07-06. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  7. "AJPW Super Power Series '02 - Day 12". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 "世界最強タッグ 歴史". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  9. "Florida Heavyweight Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  10. "NWA/WCW World Television Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  11. "WCW World Tag Team Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  12. "WCW StarrCade '92 results". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  13. "IWGP Heavyweight Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  14. "IWGP Tag Team Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  15. "NWA World Heavyweight Title history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  16. "The Greatest 18 Club Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  17. "NJPW G1 Climax '95 - Day 5". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  18. "NJPW Sumo Hall Show (Nov '93)". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  19. "NJPW Sumo Hall Show (Oct '94)". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  20. "NJPW Super Grade Tag League VII - Day 17". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  21. "NJPW Super Grade Tag League VIII - Day 17". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  22. "NJPW G1 Tag League '99 - Day 11". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 "2001 New Japan awards". Strong Style Spirit. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  24. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2002". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  25. "Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title (WWC) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  26. "WWC Television Title (Puerto Rico) history". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2014-08-25.

Other websites

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