The Great Muta

He is mostly known for his work as The Great Muta in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) during the 1990s, but also worked in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Taiwan. He is a former president of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), as well as being a full-time wrestler for the promotion from 2002 to 2013.

Mutoh is credited as one of the first Japanese wrestlers to achieve a fan base outside of his native Japan. 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), Atsushi Onita (as The Great Nita), and Seiya Sanada (as The Great Sanada). In addition, countless other wrestlers have paid tribute to Muta through emulation and imitation.

Mutoh is one of three wrestlers to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (the others being Shinya Hashimoto and Satoshi Kojima). He is also a former five-time AJPW World Tag Team Champion and a six-time IWGP Tag Team Champion.

He is also famous for taking part in what was generally considered to be the bloodiest professional wrestling match of all time against Hiroshi Hase, leading to the creation of the “Muta scale” (which rates the bloodiness of matches, relative to this one’s 1.0 value).

Mutoh is the owner and founder of Wrestle-1 (W-1), where he currently also wrestles semi-regularly, Mutoh previously made special appearances for American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as part of the TNA/W-1 talent exchange partnership. Between AJPW, NJPW, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and W-1, Mutoh has held a total of 22 championships.

Notable Feuds

vs. Sting

vs. Ric Flair

vs. Lex Luger

vs. Masahiro Chono

Other Notable Achievements

AJPW F-1 Tag Team Championship – with Kannazuki

Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

World Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Taiyō Kea (1), Arashi (1), Joe Doering (1), Masakatsu Funaki (1) and KENSO (1)

Akiho Yoshizawa Cup (2010) – with Masakatsu Funaki and S1 Mask

Champion Carnival (2002, 2004, 2007)

Giant Baba Six Man Cup (2002) – with George Hines and Kaz Hayashi

January 2 Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal (2011)

January 3 Korakuen Hall Junior Heavyweight Battle Royal (2011)

World’s Strongest Tag Determination League (2001) – with Taiyō Kea

World’s Strongest Tag Determination League (2007) – with Joe Doering

World’s Strongest Tag Determination League (2009) – with Masakatsu Funaki

NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship

NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship

NJPW Greatest 18 Championship

G1 Climax (1995)

Super Grade Tag League/G1 Tag League (1993, 1994) – with Hiroshi Hase

G1 Tag League (1997) – with Masahiro Chono

G1 Tag League (1998) – with Satoshi Kojima

G1 Tag League (1999) – with Scott Norton

MVP Award (2001)

Singles Best Bout (2001) vs. Yuji Nagata on August 12

Tag Team Best Bout (2001) with Hiroshi Hase vs. Jun Akiyama and Yuji Nagata on October 8

Tokyo Sports Match of the Year (1999) with Genichiro Tenryu on May 3, 1999

Match of the Year (2011) with Kenta Kobashi vs. Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano, All Together, August 27

Performance Award (1998)

Rookie of the Year (1986)

Special Award (1989)

Tag Team of the Year (1990) with Masahiro Chono

Tag Team of the Year (2005) with Akebono

Wrestler of the Year (1995, 1999, 2001, 2008)

TNA Global Impact Tournament (2015) – with Team International (Angelina Love, Bram, Drew Galloway, The Great Sanada, Khoya, Magnus, Rockstar Spud, Sonjay Dutt and Tigre Uno)

WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship

WWC World Television Championship

Wrestle-1 F-1 Tag Team Championship – with Kannazuki

Wrestle-1 Championship

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Award: Best Wrestling Maneuver (2001) Shining Wizard

Match of the Year (2001) vs. Genichiro Tenryu on June 8, Tokyo, Japan

Most Improved Wrestler (2001)

Wrestler of the Year (2001)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1999)

5 Star Match (1987) with Shiro Koshinaka vs. Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada on March 20

5 Star Match (1991) vs Big Van Vader at NJPW G1 Climax Day 3 on August 9

Bahamut Championship – with Sugi-chan