Keiji Mutoh

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Biography

Keiji Mutoh, is a Japanese professional wrestler who first gained international fame in the National Wrestling Alliance. He is mostly known for his work as The Great Muta in New Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1990s, but he has also worked in United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Taiwan. He is a former owner and president of All Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as being a full-time wrestler for the promotion from 2002 to 2013. Mutoh is widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time, both in Japan and America. Mutoh is credited as one of the first Japanese wrestlers to achieve a fanbase outside of his native Japan in the United States. 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) and Atsushi Onita (as The Great Nita). In addition, countless independent wrestlers have paid tribute to Muta through emulation and imitation. Mutoh is one of two wrestlers to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, the AJPW Triple Crown Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (the other being Shinya Hashimoto). He is also famous for taking part in what is generally considered to be the bloodiest professional wrestling match of all time against Hiroshi Hase, leading to the creation of the "Muta Scale". Mutoh is currently the owner and founder of Wrestle-1, where he also wrestles.