Keiji Mutoh
Birthday: 1962-12-23 Place of Birth: Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan
Synopsis
Keiji Mutoh, is a Japanese professional wrestler who first gained international fame in the National Wrestling Alliance. He is mostly known for his work as The Great Muta in New Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1990s, but he has also worked in United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Taiwan. He is a former owner and president of All Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as being a full-time wrestler for the promotion from 2002 to 2013. Mutoh is widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time, both in Japan and America. Mutoh is credited as one of the first Japanese wrestlers to achieve a fanbase outside of his native Japan in the United States. The Great Muta gimmick is one of the most influential gimmicks in puroresu, having been emulated by many wrestlers including Satoshi Kojima (as The Great Koji), Kazushi Miyamoto (as The Great Kazushi) and Atsushi Onita (as The Great Nita). In addition, countless independent wrestlers have paid tribute to Muta through emulation and imitation. Mutoh is one of two wrestlers to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the AJPW Triple Crown Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (the other being Shinya Hashimoto). He is also famous for taking part in what is generally considered to be the bloodiest professional wrestling match of all time against Hiroshi Hase, leading to the creation of the "Muta Scale". Mutoh is currently the owner and founder of Wrestle-1, where he also wrestles.
Acting
Bloodstained Memoirs
Bloodstained Memoirs is a professional wrestling documentary released in 2009. It is compiled by interviews featuring wrestlers synonymous with different eras in wrestling ('70s, '80s, '90s, and '00s) and different wrestling regions (USA, Canada, Japan, and Mexico). Production was filmed in the UK, USA, France, Japan, and Italy.
Rikidozan: A Hero Extraordinaire
Story of Rikidozan, a sumo wrestler who can only achieve limited success in Japan because he's half Korean. But when Rikidozan goes to the United States and discovers professional wrestling, he becomes a hero back home.
Dragon Blue
Mayuko is a feng shui expert who, in a nearly absurd rush of exposition in the first scene of Dragon Blue, discovers that she is the blood heir of the Dragon Clan and a born demon hunter. It's a completely unmotivated but thoroughly spooky encounter between Mayuko and a demonic ghost, and she's saved by an ancient priest spirit who explains her legacy. "Why does this always happen to me?" she ponders before flying off to a remote island to investigate an ancient curse and battle a legendary Sea Demon. Mayuko befriends a burly, chivalrous detective and a little orphan boy nicknamed "the Devil's Child" who hides his own dark secret.
WCW Fall Brawl 2000
Fall Brawl 2000 took place on September 17, 2000 from the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. The main event was Kevin Nash defending the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Booker T in a Caged Heat match. Also on the card was Goldberg vs Scott Steiner in a No DQ match, Mike Awesome vs Jeff Jarrett in a bunkhouse brawl, Sting vs The Great Muta vs Vampiro in a Triangle match, Billy Kidman & Madusa vs Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson in a Scaffold match, an elimination match featuring two 7 man teams (The Filthy Animals vs The Natural Born Thrillers), Lance Storm defending the WCW United States Championship against General Rection, KroniK vs The Harris Brothers in a First Blood Chain match, The Misficts in Action vs 3 Count, and Elix Skipper defending the WCW Cruiserweight Championship against Kwee Wee.
WCW Spring Stampede 1994
Ric Flair defends the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Big Van Vader battles The Boss. Sting faces "Ravishing" Rick Rude for the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship. "Stunning" Steve Austin defends the WCW United States Championship against The Great Muta. The Nasty Boys face Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne and much more!
WCW/New Japan Supershow III
WCW/New Japan Supershow III (known as Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome in Japan) took place on January 4, 1993 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Events included Sting vs Hiroshi Hase, Ron Simmons vs Tony Halme, Ultimo Dragon vs Jushin Liger for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, Dustin Rhodes & Scott Norton vs Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto, and IWGP Heavyweight Champion The Great Muta defending his title against Masahiro Chono.
WCW SuperBrawl III
SuperBrawl III took place on February 21, 1993 from the Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, North Carolina. This event marked the return of Ric Flair to WCW. The main event was Big Van Vader defending the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Sting in a White Castle of Fear Strap match. The Great Muta defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes defended the WCW U.S. Heavyweight Championship against Maxx Payne. Other matches include The Rock N' Roll Express vs The Heavenly Bodies (from Smokey Mountain Wrestling), Cactus Jack vs Paul Orndorff in a Falls-Count-Anywhere match, "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith vs "Wild" Bill irwin, and Chris Benoit vs. 2 Cold Scorpio.
WCW Starrcade
Starrcade '92: Battle Bowl II: The Lethal Lottery took place on December 28, 1992 from The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. The main event was the Battle Bowl Battle Royale for the Battle Bowl Ring. The final match for The King of Cable tournament was also held during this PPV featuring Sting vs Big Van Vader. Other matches included The Great Muta defending the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Masahiro Chono, Ron Simmons defending the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Steve Williams, and Shane Douglas with Ricky Steamboat defending the NWA & WCW World Tag team Championships against Barry Windham and Brian Pillman.
WCW/New Japan Supershow II
WCW/New Japan Supershow II (known as Starrcade 1992 in Tokyo Dome in Japan) took place on January 4, 1992 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The main event was the Steiner Brothers versus Sting & The Great Muta. Other matches included Tatsumi Fujinami defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Riki Choshu, Lex Luger defending the WCW World heavyweight Championship against Masahiro Chono, Big Van Vader vs El Gigante, Dusty and Dustin Rhodes vs Masa Saito and Kim Duk, The Enforcers vs Michiyoshi Ohara & Shiro Koshinaka, and Jushin Liger, Masashi Aoyagi, and Akira Nogami vs Hiro Saito, Super Strong Machine, & Kantaro Hoshino.
WCW/New Japan Supershow: Rumble in The Rising Sun
WCW/New Japan Supershow I (known as Starrcade 1991 in Tokyo Dome in Japan) took place on March 21, 1991 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It aired in North America in April 1991. The main event was Ric Flair defending the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Tatsumi Fujinami. Other matches included The Great Muta vs Sting, El Gigante vs Big Cat Hughes, Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki defending against The Steiner Brothers for the IWGP Tag Team Championship, Arn Anderson & Barry Windham vs Masa Saito & Masahiro Chono, Jushin Liger defending the IWGP Junior Heavyweight CHampionship against Akira Nogami, and several dark matches.
WCW Starrcade '90: Collision Course
WCW Starrcade '90: Collision Course was the eighth annual Starrcade professional wrestling PPV event produced under the NWA banner. It was the third Starrcade event produced by WCW, and the last PPV event held by the NWA. It took place on December 16, 1990 from the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri. The main event was a steel cage match between Sting and The Black Scorpion for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Other matches included a Street Fight between Doom and the team of Arn Anderson and Barry Windham for the NWA World Tag Team Championship, and a Texas Lariat match between Stan Hansen and Lex Luger for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. The event also hosted the Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament.
WCW Starrcade '89: Future Shock
NWA Starrcade ’89 features round-robin Iron Man and Iron Team Tournaments. Participants include Ric Flair, Sting, The Road Warriors, Lex Luger, The Great Muta, and many more NWA Superstars from around the world.
WCW Halloween Havoc '89
WCW Halloween Havoc '89: Settling The Score took place on October 28, 1989 from the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The main event was a Thunderdome match with Ric Flair and Sting versus Terry Funk and The Great Muta. The Roadwarrior competed against the Skyscrapers, Lex Luger defended the NWA US Championship against Brian Pillman, The Steiner Brothers competed against Doom, The Freebirds fought the Dynamic Dudes, The Samoan Swat Team wrestled The Midnight Express, The Cuban Assassin took on Tommy Rich, and Tom Zenk opened the show against Mike Rotunda.
