By John Malkavar on 03/24/2023
Former Japanese wrestler Keiji Mutoh was recently admitted by ESPN’s Mark Raimondi (@marcraimondi Twitter), on the occasion of his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2023 for his character The Great Muta. Despite the fact that the interview will be published in its entirety in the coming days, Raimondi has made some of his reasons in the spotlight.
During the interview, Mutoh was surprised that American fans are aware of his work under his real name in Japan, otherwise known as The Great Muta. It should be noted that Mutoh never set foot in a WWE ring in the United States and is best remembered for his impact as Muta in WCW. Because of this, Mutoh indicated that he wasn’t sure why WWE decided to elect him to the Hall of Fame: “I said really? Really? Why me?”
Regarding his retirement plans, Mutoh commented that the first idea he had when he was working was for his last announced fight against Shinsuke Nakamura in February at the Tokyo Dome. However, because WWE did not approve of the proposal and the following project was considered: New Japan Pro Wrestling star Tetsuya Naito. Later, when the board of directors of WWE consulted again, it was allowed to go ahead and the match between Great Dumb vs. Nakamura for the January 1 Pro Wrestling NOAH event “New Year 2023” at the Nippon Budokan.
Mutoh also commented on the contacts he had with the circle of “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson to participate in retirement. The Japanese legend confirmed that he had spoken to the former WWE champion to join his ultimate rival, but it was “too expensive”. De Petra Mutoh said in this way: “I met you two or three times. He confessed that he was the Elbow of his People to my movement, the Flashing Elbow, and I often jokingly asked him to pay me for Royalties, and he did not pay anything, but we had a very good conversation.”
Finally, Mutoh expressed his opinion about Ric Flair as he was in charge of inducting him into the WWE Hall of Fame. Legend reveals that he doesn’t know what Flair is saying and that he hasn’t seen him in 20 years. Despite this, he will be “very happy” to meet his old rival again.
