A World Champion on both the Asian Continent and the North American Continent, Keiji
Mutoh has been a successful grappler since ’84.  Nicknamed the “Pearl of the Orient,” Mutoh
made headlines as the Great Muta with his impressive win streak in 1989 while competing in
the National Wrestling Alliance.  Mutoh was trained by Hiro Matsuda in Florida and made his
professional debut on October 5, 1984.

  He wrestled under the names “White Ninja” and the “Super Black Ninja.” Under the latter
guise, he beat Kendall Windham in Tampa on May 21, 1986 and won the NWA Florida State
Heavyweight Crown.  During a rematch in June, he lost the belt back to the former champ.  
Mutoh went to New Japan and formed a tag team with successful junior heavyweight Shiro
Koshinaka.  The two beat Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada in a tournament final to capture
the vacant IWGP World Tag Team Title on March 20, 1987 in Tokyo.  Six days later in
Osaka, they dropped the belts to Maeda and Takada.  He continued to gain experience.

  In early 1989, Mutoh returned to the NWA as the Great Muta.  He took Gary Hart, a well
schooled heel, as his manager.  Muta quickly became known for spraying mist into the eyes
of opponents.  On April 2, 1989 in New Orleans, he beat Steve Casey during the Clash.  It
was his first big NWA event.  A lengthy win streak began.  He received a World TV Title shot
against the popular Sting on July 23rd in Baltimore during the Great American Bash.  The
even, yet controversial, bout ended with the title being held-up.  Originally, Sting was said to
have pinned Muta, but replay showed that the challenger’s shoulder was off the mat before
three counts were logged.  A rematch was held on September 3rd at the Omni Coliseum in
Atlanta.  Muta beat Sting and captured the belt.  The feud with Sting entangled with the feud
Terry Funk had with the NWA World Champion, Ric Flair.  At Fall Brawl in September, Muta
and Dick Slater, a sub for Funk, lost to Flair and Sting by disqualification.

  On October 28th in Philadelphia, Muta and Funk teamed against Flair and Sting in a
special Thunderdome Cage Match.  The top of the cage was electrified and the special
referee was legendary two-time World Champion, Bruno Sammartino.  They were defeated.  
When it seemed that the J-Tex Corporation was losing in it’s war with the babyfaces, things
got even worse.  Funk lost an “I Quit” match at the November Clash in New York and then
Muta scored the big goose egg during Starrcade ’89 in Atlanta.  His win streak continued.  
The event hosted the first “Iron Man” competition, which Muta, Lex Luger, Flair and Sting
were all vying for.  During the event, he lost his first two matches by pinfall.  An estimated
6,000 fans watched Flair pin Muta first, then Sting.  The latter won the tournament.  On
January 2, 1990, during a television taping in Gainesville, Georgia, Muta lost his NWA TV
Title to the returning Arn Anderson.

  Fed up, Muta left the NWA in February and returned to his native country.  It wasn’t long
before gold was being strapped around his waist.  Mutoh teamed with Masa Chono on April
27th in Tokyo and won the IWGP World Tag Team Title from Masa Saito and Shinya
Hashimoto.  They began to dominate the tag team scene in New Japan.  In Yokohama on
September 30th, Mutoh wrestled former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Rick
Steamboat.  He pinned the “Dragon” and logged a big win.  He beat another young talent in
Hiroshi Hase on October 25th in Maebashi, Japan at the Greendome.  Mutoh and Chono lost
the belts to Kensuke Sasaki and Hase on November 2nd in Tokyo at Budokan Hall.  On
December 26, 1990, Mutoh defeated the extreme warrior Tiger Jeet Singh by disqualification
in Hamamatsu.

  A large contingent of athletes from the U.S. traveled to Japan for a combined New Japan/
WCW show at the Tokyo Dome on March 21, 1991.  A very large crowd watched Mutoh
resume his feud with Sting.  He beat his opponent, gaining a leg up in their standings.  It
seemed that he was getting closer and closer to a run at the IWGP World Title and many
believed it was just a matter of time before he was listed as the champion.  On September
23rd, Mutoh took a giant leap forward.  He wrestled IWGP Champion Tatsumi Fujinami at the
Yokohama Arena and won in a special non-title match.  Mutoh formed a team with Hiroshi
Hase and on November 5th, they won the vacant IWGP World Tag Title in Tokyo.

  During the annual Tokyo Dome show on January 4, 1992, he teamed with Sting to beat the
Steiner Brothers, Rick and Scott.  Sting pinned the younger brother to win the match.  Big
Van Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow, a talented team of big men, captured the tag belts on
March 1st in Yokohama during the promotion’s 20th anniversary show.  Vader, the mammoth
grappler from Colorado, pinned Mutoh for the win.

  Keiji’s hiatus from American Wrestling ended on May 8th when the Great Muta returned to
World Championship Wrestling.  He teamed with Nikita Koloff to beat Rick Rude and Big Van
Vader by disqualification when Harley Race interfered in St. Joseph, Missouri.  Muta was
immediately a contender to every title in WCW.  Two days later, he teamed with two other
popular athletes, Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham in a win over Arn Anderson, Bobby
Eaton and Steve Austin in Atlanta.  Muta pinned Eaton with a moonsault to end the main
event tag contest.  Several months later, he returned to Japan and on August 16th, he
captured his first IWGP World Heavyweight Title from Riki Choshu in Fukuoka.

  During Fantastic Story on January 4, 1993 in Tokyo, Mutoh pinned his former partner,
Masa Chono before 63,500 fans in 19:48.  Chono was the reigning NWA World Champion,
having won the belt in a tournament several months earlier.  The match was a title vs. title
match and by the end, Mutoh was a duel champion with two well respected World Belts.  It
was quite an accomplishment.  His name was logged with the famous NWA Champions of the
past including Shohei “Giant” Baba, Lou Thesz, Buddy Rogers and Jack Brisco.  A month
later in Asheville, North Carolina, Barry Windham beat Mutoh during WCW’s SuperBrawl pay-
per-view and captured the NWA Title.

  In May, a former IWGP World Champion and reigning WWF World Champion, Hulk Hogan
ventured to New Japan and wrestled Mutoh in a non-title match.  If the belts had been on the
line in a WWF vs. IWGP World Title Unification Match, Mutoh or Hogan might have
established the greatest strain of a World Heavyweight Wrestling Title since 1950.  Hogan
beat Mutoh by pinfall in 15:55.  The match was a historic event anyway.  On September 20,
1993, he lost the IWGP World Title to Shinya Hashimoto in Nagoya.  The next day, he beat
Chono in Snizuoka.  On the 23rd of that month, Mutoh and Hogan combined forces against
the former IWGP World Tag Champions, Hawk and The Power Warrior.  Their team
overcame their opponents.  Mutoh and Hogan competed again on September 26th in Osaka
at the Castle Hall.  This time, neither held a major belt and the man from Venice Beach,
California gained the victory once again.

  Mutoh wrestled New Japan Pro Wrestling Leader Antonio Inoki on May 1, 1994 in Fukuoka.  
He was defeated.  On July 8th, Mutoh and Hase wrestled the Steiners in Sapporo and were
defeated when Scott pinned Keiji.  The duo pushed forth and won the IWGP World Tag Team
Title from the Hell Raisers on November 25th in Iwate.  It was their second.  In a rematch
against the Steiners on January 4, 1995, Mutoh and Hase retained their belts before 62,500.  
On May 3rd in Fukuoka, he beat Shinya Hashimoto to capture his second IWGP World Title.  
Deciding to dedicate all of time to his singles belt, Mutoh gave up his claim to the tag title.  On
October 9, 1995, defeated UWFI Star, Nobuhiko Takada by submission to retain his IWGP
World Title during a combined NJPW-UWFI Card.

  Mutoh lost to Takada in a rematch on January 4, 1996 before 64,000 fans at the Tokyo
Dome and dropped the IWGP Championship.  Takada beat him by submission to gain a
certain amount of revenge for his October loss.  Mutoh beat Naoya Ogawa on August 10,
1997 in Nagoya before an estimated 43,500 fans.  He teamed with Masa Chono on October
19th in Kobe to capture the IWGP World Tag Title from Kazuo Yamazaki and Kensuke
Sasaki.  They beat Genichiro Tenryu and Tatsumi Fujinami on November 2nd in Fukuoka in
defense of the belts.  Mutoh lost an important IWGP Title Match to the champion, Kensuke
Sasaki before 65,000 at the Tokyo Dome during the Riki Choshu Retirement Show on
January 4, 1998.  Later in the year, the tag title was declared vacant.

  On August 8th in Osaka, Mutoh and the Great Kabuki teamed to beat Michiyoshi Ohara
and Tatsutoshi Goto before 35,000 fans.  He regained the IWGP World Title from Scott
Norton on January 4, 1999 at the Tokyo Dome.  Mutoh forced Norton to submit for his third.  
He beat Don Frye by submission at the Dome in Tokyo on April 10th.  Mutoh successfully
retained his crown against Manabu Nakanishi on October 11, 1999 before 58,000 at the
Tokyo Dome.  On December 10th in Osaka, Genichiro Tenryu beat Mutoh for the World Belt.  
Masa Chono forced him to submit on January 4, 2000 at the annual New Japan Tokyo Dome
Show.  The 2000 edition drew over 63,000.

  Mutoh left Japan and returned to the United States for a planned tour in June ’00.  Rumors
spread on which night he would actually appear, and weeks passed.  The Great Muta joined
the Jung Dragons on July 10th in Jacksonville, Florida, the night after a pay-per-view.  The
trio of high-flyers had been previously engaged in a feud with 3-Count and Tank Abbott.  
Muta seemed to even up the odds.  He was named in be a participant in the vacant WCW
United States Heavyweight Title Tournament.  Many predicted he would take the belt.  On
Tuesday, July 18th in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Muta met Vampiro in the opening round of the
tournament and won by pinfall to advance.  He wrestled former FMW Champion Mike
Awesome in the semifinal round.  Awesome pinned Muta with a running powerbomb.  He
sprayed mist at Mark Madden, much to the delight of the audience.

  Muta attacked Ernest Miller with his mist the next night on Thunder.  Miller had words about
Muta on July 24th during Nitro in Cleveland.  Vampiro asked Miller to be the special referee
for his match against Muta later in the evening.  Miller agreed.  When it came down to the
match, Vampiro turned the tides on Miller and Muta followed.  He aligned himself with the
Dark Carnival, which was made up of Vampiro and the Insane Clown Posse.  Muta teamed
with Vampiro on July 31st in Cincinnati against Mark Jindrak and Sean O’Haire and Kronic,
the WCW World Tag Team Champions.  Kronic retained, but the Carnival walked off with the
tag belts.  O’Haire and Jindrak were leveled with more of Muta’s famous mist.  Muta and
Vampiro were not done.  Both ran out after Booker T pinned Sting to retain his World Title.  
Muta attacked Booker as his partner hit the other man.  Jeff Jarrett got into the fracas and
Sting was placed inside of a coffin.  The tomb was lit on fire.

  Muta and Vampiro captured the WCW World Tag Title on August 13th in Vancouver with a
win over Brian Adams and Bryan Clarke.  They received some outside help from the Harris
Brothers.  It was Kronic’s second match of the night.  Ernest Miller pinned Muta in a singles
match, also on the card.  Muta and Vampiro lost the title the next night in Kelowna, British
Columbia to Juventud Guerrera and Rey Misterio Jr.  

  The tour was successful, despite the constantly changing WCW atmosphere.  Mutoh
returned to Japan and joined All-Japan Pro Wrestling in 2001.  On June 8th, he became the
third man to have captured both the IWGP World and AJPW Unified Triple Crown after
defeating Genichiro Tenryu at Tokyo’s Budokan Hall before an estimated 16,000 fans.  
Mutoh used his famed moonsault to gain the winning pin.

TITLE HISTORY:

  -NWA Florida State Heavyweight Title (1986) defeated Kendall Windham
  -A six-time co-holder of the IWGP World Tag Team Title
          w/ Shiro Koshinaka (1987) defeated Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada,
          tournament final
          w/ Masa Chono (1990) defeated Shinya Hashimoto and Masa Saito
          w/ Hiroshi Hase (1991-’92) defeated Scott Norton and Rick Steiner
          w/ Hiroshi Hase (1994-’95) defeated The Hell Raisers
          w/ Masa Chono (1997) defeated Kensuke Sasaki and Kazuo Yamazaki
          w/ Taiyo Kea (2001-’02) defeated Tatsumi Fujinami and Osamu Nishimura
  -NWA World Television Title (1989) defeated Sting
  -A three-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion
          -Defeated Riki Choshu (1992)
          -Defeated Shinya Hashimoto (1995)
          -Defeated Scott Norton (1999)
  -NWA World Heavyweight Title (1993) defeated Masa Chono
  -Co-holder of the WCW World Tag Team Title (2000) w/ Vampiro
  -AJPW Japanese Unified Triple Crown (2001-’02) defeated Genichiro Tenryu
  -Co-holder of the AJPW World Tag Team Title (2001-’02) w/ Taiyo Kea



Research by Tim Hornbaker
Keiji Mutoh Wrestling History
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