On February 21st, Keiji Muto will be ending his almost 40-year long career with his final match at the Tokyo Dome against Tetsuya Naito. Keiji Muto, who wrestled his last match under ‘The Great Muta’ persona earlier this year, was brought up as a topic of discussion on the latest episode of Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast.
The Ocho talked about how Muta changed his signature maneuver from the iconic Moonsault to the Shining Wizard in his later years in order to ease the pressure on his knees. Jericho also shared that he had a similar mindset when he decided to incorporate the Judas Effect into his wrestling moves, thereby reducing the use of the Codebreaker. He said,
“Once again, I got that idea from Great Muta (switching up finisher). When the moonsault starts tearing his knees apart, what’d he do? A Shining Wizard, a jumping knee. It’s so easy. But once you beat a couple guys with it, then suddenly it’s over and that’s what wrestling is all about.”