It wasn’t lost on Konosuke Takeshita that he recently competed in the ring against Sting and The Icon gave quite the hat tip to the young star.
With Sting’s retirement match impending at AEW Revolution, Takeshita took to social media to make note of his recent battles against Sting. Takeshita and Stinger competed in a multi-man tag match at the latest PPV and on the January 10 episode of Dynamite, the two fought once more in tag action. Konosuke noted how he admired Sting’s early work against a name star against someone like Great Muta.
“To be honest, it was very special to be able to fight against Sting. Sting vs Great Muta VHS had a huge impact on me as a kid. Thanks.”
Sting reciprocated Takeshita’s comments with even higher praise, saying that Konosuke has all the abilites to be the next Great Muta.
“Another Great Muta in the making. He has all the tools, for sure.”
Sting’s team came out victorious at AEW World’s End and also won his tornado tag this Wednesday on AEW Dynamite against Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs.
Sting’s road to Revolution should have its fair share of drama as it was indicated his final opponents appear to be Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson as The Young Bucks returned to the company. The brothers had heelish new looks and it’s likely Sting will team up with his “pillar” protege in Darby Allin.
However, Allin reportedly was messed up real bad in the match up after his neck bumped harshly off the ring ropes following a big toss by Hobbs and Takeshita.
One of the biggest names in the history of Japanese wrestling will be part of this year’s class of WWE Hall of Famers, it has been claimed.
Contrary to previous years, which have seen WWE announce inductees in the months prior to WrestleMania, the promotion has waited very late this year.
Yesterday, WWE confirmed that Rey Mysterio will be part of this year’s class, making him the third active Superstar to be inducted (behind Ric Flair in 2008, and Bill Goldberg in 2018.)
The Great Muta
Japanese wrestling legend The Great Muta will be joining Rey as part of this year’s Hall of Fame, according to PW Insider.
Muta, aka Keiji Muto, recently finished his wrestling career, losing to Masahiro Chono at a Pro Wrestling NOAH event last month.
Despite Muto’s success across various promotions both in his native Japan and internationally, the four-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion never competed in WWE.
For his retirement tour, WWE allowed Shinsuke Nakamura to compete in a match against Muta, which at the time was reported as part of a “trade-off” between WWE & NOAH.
There is no word on who will be inducting the legendary wrestler into the Hall of Fame.
Who Else Is In?
More inductees are expected to be announced in due time, though details are scarce as to who will be going into the Hall of Fame.
Trish Stratus who was inducted in 2013, said last month that Victoria and Impact Wrestling Knockouts World Champion Mickie James both deserve the nod this year.
It is believed that Batista will also be inducted this year, after withdrawing from the 2020 class due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mick Foley has said he has been contacted about inducting someone into the Hall of Fame this year, but has not said who.
It’s always hard for a wrestling legend to say goodbye. The business is such a specific esoteric community with its own set of norms and values that wrestlers themselves and their fans know and love. It’s hard to walk away after a long, successful life in that world.
The Great Muta was not only an all time great who earned the respect of his colleagues around the world, but also has had remarkable longevity as a wrestler. He got started in wrestling in the mid-1980s, before becoming a star to American fans at the end of that decade when he brought his ahead of its time aerial offense, martial arts-informed strikes, and—perhaps most iconic of all—his deadly green mist to WCW.
Muta is finally bringing his career to a close, nearly four decades after he first set foot in teh ring. A key step in his farewell process saw him wrestle WWE Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura on New Year’s Day. The finish had unexpected parallels to an iconic moment between Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair from a decade and a half before.
How Shawn Michaels Ended Ric Flair’s WWE Career
In 2008, Ric Flair worked his final angle as an in-ring performer in WWE, with the storyline that Vince McMahon proclaimed The Nature Boy would have to retire the next time he lost a match. After getting the better of a series of younger opponents like MVP and Mr. Kennedy, not to mention beating McMahon himself, Flair challenged his friend Shawn Michaels for a bout at WrestleMania 24.
The match was extremely well executed with a poetic finish that saw HBK mouth “I’m sorry, I love you,” to a beaten Flair, before putting his career to rest with Sweet Chin Music. It was a unique, emotional moment that highlighted the real-life respect between the two men and the reverence so many held for The Dirtiest Player in the Game.
Though Flair would go on to wrestle his share of additional matches outside the WWE spotlight, this match was, for a wide swathe of fans, the truest farewell to the Flair they’d known and loved for so many years.
How Shinsuke Nakamura Beat The Great Muta
Shinsuke Nakamura got special permission from WWE to stage a huge match between him and fellow Japanese legend, The Great Muta at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s The New Year, an event staged on New Year’s Day.
In an instant classic moment, the bout culminated in Nakamura apparently kissing Muta right on the mouth. Functionally speaking, he was stealing away Muta’s signature green mist, so that the WWE Superstar could spray it in Muta’s face and set up his trademark Bomaye strike (known as the Kinshasa in WWE). The finish was creative and poetic in relation to Muta’s career up to that point. All the more so, that kiss could be read as its own illustration of love for a living legend of the wrestling business.
Parallels Between Shawn Michaels Vs. Ric Flair And Shinsuke Nakamura Vs. The Great Muta
The Great Muta and Ric Flair each performed at the highest levels, including wrestling one another in the late 1980s and early 1990s. While Flair is the bigger legend, Muta holds his own—particularly for a Japanese audience—as another man with a decorated history and a great deal of nostalgia attached to his name.
Flair wasn’t wrestling Shawn Michaels for the first time when they clashed at WrestleMania 24. Rather than the revisitation making the matchup feel stale, however, it added to a sense of history between the two. Similarly, when Muta faced Shinsuke Nakamura, it was a match that had happened before, with a degree of familiarity and previously established chemistry added to the proceedings.
Most importantly, though, the closing moments of each match complemented one another, each cut from the same cloth. Michaels made a move wildly uncharacteristic of pro wrestling when he told his opponent he loved him before knocking him unconscious with his kick finisher. Nakamura arguably did HBK one better in not stating his love, but instead expressing it with a kiss. There was the added poeticism of turning Muta’s famous mist offense against him, before nailing his knee strike finisher to defeat him one last time.
The Great Muta’s match with Shinsuke Nakamura did not, itself, mark the end of his career, but that moment is on the horizon as he has other high-profile matches lined up before his official last bout on January 22. Moreover, Muta put a bit of a stain on the moment with Nakamura by referring to him with a homophobic slur in a press conference after the show. Just the same, the end of the match itself stands as an unconventionally beautiful piece of business, grabbing the attention of fans around the world to kick off 2023.
The Great Muta recently appeared in All Elite Wrestling to help Sting and Darby Allin against the House of Black at Dynamite: Grand Slam.
The wrestling legend announced that he will be retiring from in-ring competition next year and announced a retirement tour for January.
A match between WWE Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura and The Great Muta at Pro Wrestling Noah New Year 2023 (Jan 1, 2023) was announced this week. It will take place in Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Pro Wrestling Noah had concerns about All Elite Wrestling’s reaction to them working with WWE but apparently, there are no issues at all.
According to Wrestling Inc’s Dominic DeAngelo, Triple H contacted Pro Wrestlng Noah to make sure that the match was still available, and legendary manager Sonny Oono reached out to smooth over any issues.
Noah wanted to protect the newly developing relationship with AEW,” Oono stated, playing the role of facilitator. “I made sure they were no objections from various promotions.
Sting and The Great Muta will team up on January 22nd, 2023 at Noah’s Great Muta Final Bye-Bye event. The partnership between AEW and Noah was also brought together by Oono.
“Sting joining together on Muta’s last event was a wish of Muta,” Oono said, who thinks it’s great for wrestling when you break down barriers. “I’m glad I could help make it possible!”
The professional wrestling world awoke to great shock recently upon Pro Wrestling NOAH’s announcement of Shinsuke Nakamura wrestling the Great Muta at the start of next year.
On January 1st, 2023, Nakamura will battle the Great Muta, also known as Keiji Muto, at Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan, amidst Muta’s ongoing retirement tour. The journey to confirm this match, however, wasn’t easy, as Nakamura is still under contract with WWE. An article with Tokyo Sports explained how exactly the dream match came together.
Upon Muto’s announcement of his upcoming retirement, the NOAH organization originally pitched Nakamura as an opponent for him. “Despite initially disagreements, they persistently negotiated with the new structure after the retirement of Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon in July,” Tokyo Sports reported. Under the new leadership of WWE with the likes of Stephanie McMahon, Nick Khan, and Paul “Triple H” Levesque, all parties finally managed to reach an agreement on October 26th. Therefore, Shinsuke Nakamura has permission from WWE to appear at NOAH for this special occasion.
The former Intercontinental Champion himself revealed that the match itself is “a miracle” despite the “people in WWE who pushed me back.”
Nakamura continued on to express his excitement for the match, as the two meet for the first time in 14 years. “Of course, I wanted to do it. It opened a door that no one had ever stepped into, or a door that no one had been able to pry open. Ha ha ha…, it’s the real ‘F?rbidden D??r’ (Forbidden Door),” Nakamura said.
AEW’s Grand Slam special is now in the rearview mirror, with the promotion’s Grand Slam: Rampage edition taking place last night. The show, which took place from Arthur Ashe Stadium, opened up with the anticipated House of Black (Brody King & Buddy Matthews) vs. Darby Allin & Sting no-DQ matchup, with Julia Hart accompanying the HoB to the ring.
The match was an all-out brawl that saw the daredevil Allin get busted open following an epic crash through a table alongside Brody King. Meanwhile the Stinger was left handcuffed to a chair as Matthews prepared to beat down the legend with his own baseball bat. Right before the attack the lights would go out and the fans in New York would be treated to their biggest surprise of the night, an appearance from Japanese legend, the Great Muta.
Muta came to the ring slowly and looked as if he was about to attack Sting, who he had an intense rivalry with during the early portion of his career. However, Muta instead hit Matthews with a Dragon Screw before spitting his signature green mist in Matthew’s face, which caused him to back up into Julia Hart, who was standing on the apron. Hart was supposed to take the bump and fall through a table, but she seemed to overshoot her jump and instead came crashing onto the pavement.
While many fans were worried about Hart’s condition after her fall, they need not worry for long. Both Hart and King took to Twitter to reveal that Hart is not only doing just fine, but that her scary looking hat is also okay.
King writes, “I just want everyone to know that TheJuliaHart’s Hat made it out safely. Thank you for your concerns.” Hart herself would then confirm this news with her own tweet. She writes, “Me and my hat are okay.”
I just want everyone to know that @TheJuliaHart’s Hat made it out safely. Thank you for your concerns.
During the big CyberFight Festival event in Saitama, Japan, Muto announced that he will be done with in-ring competition in Spring 2023. The 59-year-old icon will have just five more matches before he rides off into the sunset.
— ?????????? ?PRO WRESTLING NOAH (@noah_ghc) June 12, 2022
Muto gained international recognition as “The Great Muta.” He has heavily influenced many wrestlers today in Japan and all over the world.
He started his career back in the Fall of 1984. For almost 40 years, Muto has been cementing his legacy as an all-time great.
Keiji Muto has wrestled for NJPW, WCW, AJPW, the now-defunct Wrestle-1 which he used to own, and Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Muto is a four-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, a former GHC Heavyweight Champion, a three-time AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, and a former Wrestle-1 Champion.
These accolades don’t even scratch the surface of what Muto has been able to accomplish.
Game Changer Wrestling’s Joey Janela’s Spring Break 4 is scheduled for Friday, April 3rd, 2020 but will not feature the Great Muta as originally announced. The promotion is stating publicly that Muta being pulled from the show has to do with shady negotiating tactics by Muta’s self-described agent, Sonny Onoo.
GCW posted the following message to their social media accounts:
An update regarding The Great Muta appearing at Joey Janela's Spring Break 4… pic.twitter.com/Jlr9V7GPuq
— GameChangerWrestling (@GCWrestling_) March 2, 2020
The message states they reached a deal for Muta to come in for Spring Break 4 back in November. GCW was then contacted by Sonny Onoo, who works as an agent for many Japanese wrestlers, in December and said he would be taking over as Muta’s representative even though the deal was already finalized. Onoo informed GCW he would be looking for other events WrestleMania weekend for Muta as well. GCW said that was fine so long as the other promoters shared in Muta’s lodging and travel expenses. This is how wrestling promoters often work together to reduce costs for bringing in top-talent for a weekend. GCW says Onoo was shocked by this part of the deal.
GCW then pieced together that Onoo himself was the vendor for Muta’s other booking. They concluded the message by saying they are still open to working with Muta on a deal for Spring Break 4.
GCW then posted the following regarding Sonny Onoo’s demands for WrestleMania weekend:
As an aside, here were some of the extras that Sonny Onoo tried to tack on while holding us up… pic.twitter.com/RlQbZpsQj9
— GameChangerWrestling (@GCWrestling_) March 2, 2020
They also posted the following Tweet alleging a possible fake account that has popped up on Twitter:
Also, this account has started popping up with some tweets in the last couple days suggesting GCW failed to meet our deal with Muta.
Several of the TNA regular performers are said to be very happy that the recent set of television and pay-per-view tapings are now over. It was said to be a long five days for all involved, with many of the wrestlers working almost every single taping.
It was noted over the weekend that Wrestle-1 performer Jimmy Suzuki was headed to Orlando for a “big TNA announcement” on Monday. While that never happened, Suzuki is in town with The Great Muta, and was in attendance at the TNA taping on Monday night. According to TNA sources, there was never any announcement planned, despite Suzuki claiming otherwise on social media.
Wrestle-1 hosted Bound for Glory in Japan back in October. The Great Muta is scheduled for Monday’s Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando, so we’ll see if that’s related to the announcement.
TNA will be holding a press conference this Wednesday in New York City, where Dixie Carter and Wrestle-1’s The Great Muta will be on-hand to make an announcement together.
There is no concrete word as to what the announcement is, although some are speculating that it could be another joint-show between TNA and W-1, or possibly something planned for TNA’s upcoming Bound For Glory pay-per-view.
TNA has announced that Japanese Wrestling legend and Wrestle-1 President The Great Muta will be appearing the company’s upcoming Impact Wrestling tapings from New York City Tapings on June 25th:
Simply, The Great Muta is one of the brightest international stars the professional wrestling world has ever known. Throughout his career, he’s held wrestling gold 19 times and has won awards and praise across the globe. Not only that, but The Great Muta has consistently worked to shine a light on new talent from his native Japan – most recently sending his protégé Sanada to TNA, who quickly captured the X-Division Championship. The Great Muta is also responsible for some of the most exciting Japanese wrestling under his own Wrestle-1 banner!
TNA Wrestling is extremely honored and excited to announce that The Great Muta will be returning to TNA this summer and is set to take part in our first IMPACT in New York City, on June 25 at the Manhattan Center. Additional details will be revealed shortly.
Muta was last seen at TNA Lockdown in Miami, where he teamed with his Wrestle-1 proteges, Sanda and Yasu.
-TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles is officially scheduled to work the November 16th Wrestle-1 event in Tokyo, Japan. Styles’ match, which will be against rising star Seiya Sanada, will not be for his TNA title. The reason the match will be a non-title bout is because Styles is already scheduled to defend the belt against Judas Mesias for the AAA promotion in Mexico.
According to one source, TNA executive Jeff Jarrett pushed for the Styles vs. Sanada match, and it could lead to Sanada coming to the United States as a part of the TNA partnership with The Great Muta’s (Keiji Mutoh) Wrestle-1 promotion.
-TNA added a new “#IMPACT365” video on their official YouTube channel with the title, “#IMPACT365 – Kurt Angle’s condition after his match on IMPACT.” The video is accompanied by the following description: “#IMPACT365 – TNA wrestling medical staff attend to Kurt Angle backstage during IMPACT after his match with Bobby Roode”
You can watch the “#IMPACT365: Kurt Angle’s condition after his match on IMPACT” video below:
As we previously reported, there are rumors that the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion, AJ Styles, will be defending the TNA belt outside of the organization to bring credibility to the current storyline that he has left the company. Specifically, Styles is rumored to defend the title on shows for the AAA promotion in Mexico, as well as the new Wrestle-1 promotion led by wrestling legend Keiji Mutoh (The Great Muta) in Japan.
The early stages of the angle began on Thursday’s live edition of Impact Wrestling, as Styles turned down a new contract offer from TNA president Dixie Carter, and spoke about how he was going to “bring the belt” to the people.
Styles posted his first tweet since “leaving TNA” on Impact Wrestling on Thursday. You can read the new tweet below:
Really looking forward to defending my title around the world. No worries, I'll bring the belt to you.
-The Great Muta’s (Keiji Mutoh) Wrestle-1 promotion in Japan will feature two wrestlers currently under contract to TNA Impact Wrestling on their new event in Tokyo on November 16th, according to a recent announcement. Muta presented a roster for the show at a recent press conference in Japan which included slots for two “recommended” TNA Impact Wrestling wrestlers.
-The new Dixie Carter t-shirt, which we previously reported about here on the website, has created quite the negative buzz on the TNAShop.com website. The comments section featured below the shirt on the merchandise website features several vicious comments from fans. Here are some of the top featured comments:
-As noted, TNA Impact Wrestling star Jeff Jarrett was scheduled to make his debut for the new Wrestle-1 promotion in Japan, which is led by pro wrestling legend Keiji Muto (aka The Great Muta). Jarrett teamed with Muta and Masakatsu Funaki to defeat Masayuki Kono, Ryouji Sai and Kazma Sakamoto.
-Speaking of Jarrett, he’ll be at Saturday’s FWE event in Brooklyn, New York signing autographs prior to their live event. Also scheduled to appear is Jarrett’s wife, Karen Jarrett.
-TNA Impact Wrestling star Austin Aries was interviewed recently by The Post And Courier’s Mike Mooneyham. Fans interested in checking that out online can do so at PostAndCourier.com.
-TNA’s Jeff Jarrett will be appearing on the Wrestle-1 event at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday. Wrestle-1 is the new Japanese-based promotion led by pro wrestling legend Keiji Muto (aka The Great Muta).
-The Culture Crossfire website has a new featured article up today focusing on the past TNA “Bound For Glory” events in anticipation of the upcoming TNA “Bound For Glory” pay-per-view on Sunday, October 20th. Fans interested in checking out the piece can do so online at CultureCrossfire.com.
-TNA Impact Wrestling star Jeff Jarrett is confirmed for the October 6th event from the new Wrestle-1 promotion. The event on 10/6 that features Jarrett will emanate from Tokyo, Japan. This is interesting to note, as Japanese legend The Great Muta, who runs the Wrestle-1 promotion, recently stated that no TNA stars would be on their events.
-According to the official Cincinnati Gardens website, TNA will be bringing a live Impact Wrestling television taping to the venue on November 7th at 7:00PM. For more information, visit CincyGardens.com.
-The official pre-sale password for the scheduled TNA Impact Wrestling television taping in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Friday, December 27th is: PHILLYIMPACT.
Pro wrestling legend The Great Muta recently noted that TNA Impact Wrestling would not be a part of the debut event for his new Wrestle-1 promotion.
As reported earlier this year, the Japanese legend met with Jeff Jarrett and other TNA officials in Nashville about the possibility of sharing talent amongst the two promotions.
According to the recent Muta interviews in Japan, TNA and Wrestle-1 will not be sharing talent, as least not yet.
TNA President Dixie Carter has posted her second batch of Q&A’s from the #AskDixie Twitter campaign, which you can read at ImpactWrestling.com. Here are some highlights of what she said about:
Fans On The West Coast Having To Watch TNA On 3 Hour Delay: Most TV networks run a “West Coast Feed” to compensate for the time zone changes with their prime time programming. Although there is no way to change that, we watch the #IMPACTLive twitter responses from both feeds.
A UK PPV: “Would love this, but I always say I want more people to be able to see the great UK audiences worldwide on Impact vs how many would see it on a PPV platform. But we will definitely have a PPV there one day.”
Monty Brown Returning To TNA: “Monty Brown is still one of my favorite TNA stars from our early days. He was able to transition from the NFL to the ring and showed good charisma. Monty is now retired and currently lives in Michigan.”
Great Muta In TNA: “It was wonderful to have Muta visit last week at our TNA offices in Nashville. There are a lot of exciting business opportunities in Japan, and some incredible talent as well that I’d love to showcase on Impact. We have a great home on Nippon Television G+ Sports every Saturday night and hope to bring IMPACT to Japan in the future.”
– The following matches are confirmed for next Thursday’s August 8th episode of TNA Impct Wrestling:
* Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe
* Kazarian vs. Christopher Daniels
* Magnus vs. Mr. Anderson
– Japanese Wrestling legend The Great Muta was at TNA offices today in Nashville, TN meeting with Jeff Jarrett. According to the TNA’s website:
The Great Muta, who runs Japan’s WRESTLE-1 promotion under Gen Sports Entertainment, was in Nashville to discuss future opportunities between TNA and WRESTLE-1.
Jeff Jarrett posted this photo on Instagram of himself with Muta:
– WCW legend The Great Muta has been added to the alumni section of WWE.com.
– Tonight at Caroline’s On Broadway in New York City, Hot 97 radio DJ Peter Rosenberg will be hosting The Roast of The Iron Sheik. Rosenberg just informed us that the people roasting the Sheik will include former WWE Superstar MVP, Jay Lethal (as Black Machismo), himself, several comics, plus a surprise or two.
The staff of SEScoops.com will be at the Iron Sheik roast tonight – and will post a recap with pictures and videos tomorrow. Stay tuned, it’s The Iron Sheik’s turn to get humbled!
