Keiji Muto is one of NJPWs 'Three Musketeers', a former IWGP Champion, a former GHC Champion in NOAH, a former Triple Crown Champion in AJPW, former President of AJPW, founder and owner of the now defunct Wrestle-1 promotion, and fondly remembered in the west for his time in WCW as 'The Great Muta'. It's finally time for his illustrious near 40-year career to end.

After an extended retirement tour in Japan and across the globe, the time has finally come for the Japanese legend, 60-year old Keiji Muto to hang up his wrestling boots. With 2023 seeing a lot of his final matches, Muto would unite the wrestling scene with bouts against NJPW, WWE, NOAH, and AEW talents in the first months of the year.

On February 21, 2023, Pro Wrestling NOAH held the Keiji Muto Grand Final Pro-Wrestling Last Love Hold Out PPV at the Tokyo Dome, serving as the final match of Muto's career. The main event featured Keiji Muto against his handpicked opponent: New Japan's Tetsuya Naito.Muto came out to an incredible entrance.




While Naito himself had questioned if this would actually be his opponent's last match, NOAH would present this as a proper retirement match for the legend. Masahiro Chono arrived before the bell for a special guest appearance on commentary.

Naito defeated Muto in a match worthy of his last, with some interesting psychology to help overcome Muto's physical limitations.

To everyone's surprise, this wasn't Muto's final match.

Having ended his career in 2014 without a proper retirement match, Masahiro Chono's dream was to always end his career with Keiji Muto. Following Muto's loss to Tetsuya Naito in the real main event of the PPV, Keiji Muto would get on the mic, challenging Chono to a match with Tiger Hatori serving as the referee. This would end up becoming an official match as the secret main event.



Many tears were shed as one of pro-wrestling's greatest wrestlers hung up his boots in the grandest way possible.

The sad reality with wrestling retirements is until they pass we'll always wonder.

For those into wrestling, The Great Muta was a phenomenon in America. There are Japanese wrestlers who had longer, more successful runs here, but none of them had the aura of Muta, that instantly knowing you were watching something singular and great. Had a great match with Hogan. In the '90s! One of the greatest unsung accomplishments in wrestling history. 

Feb 23, 2023 23:34:22 GMT Kilgore said:

The Great Muta was a phenomenon in America. There are Japanese wrestlers who had longer, more successful runs here, but none of them had the aura of Muta, that instantly knowing you were watching something singular and great. 

All this. We talk about astronauts here in HoW and Muta was like an astronaut from a different planet with his facepaint, herky jerky movements, and moves nobody else was doing in 1989 America. A truly unique talent who was years ahead of his time. His feud with Sting over the TV Title was like a more athletic 1989 version of 1998 Rock/HHH in that it was two young guys you just knew were going to be big deals for years to come. I was lucky enough to see Muta live at ROH Final Battle 2003 and you better believe he was the big draw for me that night. 

I'll always maintain The Great Muta was Japan's answer to The Undertaker. He always somehow kept his gimmick fresh despite his physical limitations in later years. To be a top attraction for close to 35 years with all the different promotions he was involved with is an amazing feat. In his prime though, very few could match his combination of showmanship and athleticism.

Very cool to see Muta face Chono one last time and that entrance was pretty epic, fitting for an epic talent.