How did The Great Muta impact SmackDown? The Hall of Famer’s wrestling legacy. 2023
The Great Muta, a future WWE Hall of Famer, makes his debut appearance on WWE television tonight on SmackDown. Oh, almost.
Muta unfortunately did not make a physical presence on SmackDown. The camera revealed to the audience that he was backstage by displaying a room bearing his name.
If he had, it would have been one of the few professional wrestling achievements Muta has not attained. When he is inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Rey Mysterio, Stacy Keibler, Andy Kaufman, and former referee Tim White, he will be on our televisions shortly.
Who exactly is The Great Muta? How can a man who has never wrestled in a WWE ring make it into their Hall of Fame? Consider one of the most important performers in history.
Who is The Great Muta, a future WWE Hall of Famer?
Keiji Muto, often known as The Great Muta, is one of the most prominent professional wrestlers of all time. Not only one of the most important Japanese wrestlers of all time, but wrestlers in general. Muta was the first person to integrate acrobatics, martial arts, and theatricality to such a degree.
Muta has won nine world titles, including the NWA Worlds Championship and the New Japan Pro-Wrestling IWGP Championship. He was also a part of nWo Japan, the New Japan branch of the WCW’s New World Order group, and eventually its leader.
Muta went on a “retirement tour” prior to announcing his impending induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. One of the more notable bouts took place in January of this year against WWE Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura (who was granted permission by the company to participate), which could have led to his induction this year.
Keiji Muto has also starred in a number of Japanese films and television programs, including the 1996 supernatural criminal thriller Yajuu Densetsu: Dragon Blue. In the Sega-produced video game Yakuza KIwami 2, he and numerous other Japanese wrestling legends also featured.
After a match against Hideyoshi Hase, Muta bled so profusely that his entire body was covered in blood, which inspired the creation of the infamous “Muta Scale.” Since then, practically every bloody wrestling encounter covered by the wrestling media has been compared to this match.
