Ric Flair announced today that The Great Muta will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.
The two go back decades as they had some legendary matches in the National Wrestling Alliance.
While speaking on WWE’s The Bump, Flair praised Muta as both a wrestler and a person.
“It is my distinguished honor, and I would like to be the first to announce the induction of the Great Muta into the WWE 2023 Hall of Fame Class. He’s a tremendous guy, a tremendous athlete, a great person, a great man. I’ve wrestled him probably 500 times, and I can’t think of a better guy for the company. Boy, when you’re honored and enshrined in the WWE Hall of Fame, it really makes you a special, special person, and I’m honored to be the one to announce it. On a very personal note, which a lot of people need to know, which I’ll discuss during the induction, my son, who passed away, which will be two weeks, the 29th of March, was with Muta two days before he passed away. So I have a special place in my heart for Muta. I love him beyond wrestling, so I’m very excited to be there to see him and honor him. He’s a phenomenal person,” Flair said.
Flair compared Muta to wrestlers such as Ricky Steamboat and Shawn Michaels.
“Well, he was a very handsome young man. He’s got a phenomenal physique. He’s just naturally fluid. Only a couple guys I can think of that are as smooth and as athletic in the ring, all around, guys like Ricky Steamboat and Shawn Michaels, and that’s a great compliment. Muta… came along, and he and [Tatsumi] Fujinami and very few others adapted to the American style, and he just brought it with game every night, never complained. He was a businessman, and he’s just a pleasure to be around. He’s a phenomenal guy,” Flair added.
