Technically, The Great Muta has never competed in the WWE. But his accomplishments and mystique will be forever immortalized by the world’s largest professional wrestling promotion.
The legendary Japanese wrestler will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, sources confirmed to Sportzshala on Wednesday. An official announcement is expected later Wednesday on the WWE digital series The Bump from Mut’s old rival Ric Flair. PWInsider.com was the first to report this.
Muta, who also wrestled under his real name Keiji Muto as another character, was one of Japan’s biggest wrestling stars of the 1990s and 2000s. He is a four-time former IWGP Heavyweight Champion (the designation used for New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s top title) and a former GHC Heavyweight Champion with Pro Wrestling Noah.
Muta also made several appearances in WCW, WWE’s former main competitor, and was one of the first Japanese wrestlers to achieve star status in the United States. He had notable feuds with Sting and Flair and was also a member of NWO Japan, a very popular offshoot of WCW in Japan that has become a cult favorite in that country.
As a character, Muta was known for his obsessive face painting, spraying “poison mist” onto opponents’ faces with his mouth, his Muta castle, Radiant Magician, and distinctive moonstrike moves; and the “Mut Scale”, a professional wrestling vernacular, to determine how much blood a wrestler has shed in a match. The latter was inspired by one of the bloodiest matches in wrestling history: Muta vs. Hiroshi Hase in 1992.
The WWE Hall of Fame inauguration is scheduled for March 31 in Los Angeles, the day before WrestleMania 39.
Muta, 60, went on a retirement tour last year and earlier this year, most notably going up against current WWE star Shinsuke Nakamura on January 1st. mileage was. Muta’s final matches included a duel involving Sting and AEW wrestler Darby Allin, New Japan headliner Tetsuya Naito, and a short surprise showdown against Muta’s longtime friend and rival Masahiro Chono.
Source: www.espn.com
