Mid 20th Century
166-562: Keiji Muto ( 武藤 敬司 , Mutō Keiji , born December 23, 1962) is a Japanese professional wrestling executive, actor and retired professional wrestler . He is known for his work under his real name and as his alter ego The Great Muta ( グレート・ムタ , Gurēto Muta ) in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and during the 1980s and 1990s, and from his runs in other Japanese , American , Puerto Rican , and Mexican promotions . He
332-730: A Frankensteiner . He would lose the title to his former student Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom III on January 4, 2009, after Tanahashi used his signature High Fly Flow twice to get the pin. After the match, Muto said backstage that he had passed Tanahashi his sash after doing his best for over half a year to raise the worth of the title, and suggested that he would withdraw and leave New Japan to move their company forward. Muto would make his second appear in NJPW on October 12 to commemorate Masahiro Chono's twenty-fifth year in professional wrestling as Muto teamed with Chono and Kenta Kobashi to defeat Jun Akiyama, Manabu Nakanishi and Satoshi Kojima in
498-580: A Tables, Ladders and Chairs match . On September 10, Muto faced his former tag team partner Masakatsu Funaki in a special return match, which ended in a thirty-minute time limit draw. On October 24, Muto unsuccessfully challenged Kaz Hayashi for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship . On December 12, Muto and Kannazuki lost the F-1 Tag Team Championship to Ryota Hama and Koriki Choshu after
664-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
830-529: A one-time NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion and a one-time NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Champion . Muto returned to New Japan in 1986, where he was nicknamed "Space Lone Wolf", a space-age type character that was briefly revived in 2005 by NOSAWA Rongai . In March 1987, Muto won the IWGP Tag Team Championship with Shiro Koshinaka , before losing the titles to Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada six days later. In
996-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
1162-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1328-581: A #1 contender's match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. However, Muto received an opportunity for the title against Shinya Hashimoto at Wrestling Dontaku on May 3, where he defeated Hashimoto to capture his second IWGP Heavyweight Championship and subsequently vacated the IWGP Tag Team Championship three days later on May 6 to focus on defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Muto successfully defended
1494-437: A Title vs. Title match. Around 1993, he participated in his third G1 Climax tournament, losing to Hiroshi Hase in the semi-finals. In January 1994, he received a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Shinya Hashimoto, though he would ultimately lose the match. In August 1994, he won his third G1 Climax tournament, defeating Power Warrior in the finals. A short time after winning his third G1 Climax, Chono underwent
1660-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1826-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
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#17327984844131992-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2158-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2324-443: A change in attitude. Originally a clean-cut fan favorite during his NWA World title reign, he turned heel, angered that Power Warrior received a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship before him, as he won the tournament. He also changed his image and adopted a yakuza gimmick , complete with sunglasses, menacing mannerisms and black coats and tights. Chono's partnering with Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hiro Saito as "Team Wolf" provided
2490-419: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Masahiro Chono Masahiro Chono ( 蝶野正洋 , Chōno Masahiro , born September 17, 1963)
2656-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
2822-441: A dream match at Champion Carnival One Night Special on April 14. At Super Force Group Declaration, Muto defeated Hiroshi Hase, then a member of All Japan, which led to Hase joining BATT as well. Muto then entered the 2001 G1 Climax , where he won all matches in his block, with the exception of a loss to Satoshi Kojima, thus qualifying for the semi-final on August 11, in which he defeated Tadao Yasuda and then lost to Yuji Nagata in
2988-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
3154-726: A foundation to NJPW's nWo Japan . Establishing himself as leader of its Japanese sister stable, Chono joined the American nWo in December 1996 as it was gaining momentum in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He would also join its successor, Team 2000, which would eventually restructure again. In a match against WCW's Bill Goldberg , Chono supposedly " shot " the match (actually employing legitimate combat) and dislocated his shoulder. Upon returning to Japan, Chono rejoined NJPW, where he achieved much success. He won
3320-585: A four-year reign. Muto would win the junior heavyweight and heavyweight battle royals at the Korakuen Hall on January 1 and 3, 2011, respectively. At Pro-Wrestling Love In Ryogoku Vol. 12, Muto and Kenso defeated SMOP ( Akebono and Ryota Hama ) to win the World Tag Team Championship, marking Muto's fifth and final reign with the title. At All Together , Muto teamed with Kenta Kobashi to defeat Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano in
3486-507: A goatee, and aligning himself with a fellow NJPW wrestler who had gone overseas for an extended period of time, Shinjiro Otani . The two returned to New Japan on January 4, 2001, at Wrestling World, making short work of Manabu Nakanishi and Jushin Liger . Shortly after, Muto also began appearing for All Japan Pro Wrestling , where he debuted at King's Road New Century by defeating Taiyō Kea . On February 18, Muto debuted his new trademark move,
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#17327984844133652-641: A grudge feud with Williams into 2002. On January 11, 2002, following the end of a year-long cross-promotional angle with New Japan Pro-Wrestling , Keiji Muto shocked the Japanese wrestling world by defecting to All-Japan as a full-time competitor, taking Satoshi Kojima and Kendo Kashin with him. In his first match as an AJPW contracted wrestler, Muto and Taiyo Kea successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship against Mike Barton and Jim Steele on January 14. Muto would then lose
3818-743: A hair vs. hair match to that April. It was in Puerto Rico he formed the Three Musketeers with Masahiro Chono and Shinya Hashimoto . He wrestled only one match in New Japan during this period on July 29, before returning to Puerto Rico. In the fall of 1988, Muto moved to the Dallas, Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling , where he reunited with Kendo Nagasaki and had a very short lived feud with Kevin Von Erich before departing
3984-457: A hiatus, which forced him and Hiroyoshi Tenzan to vacate the title on July 7, 1995. Since 1999, Chono has owned his own clothing brand, Aristrist (stylised in all caps), with his wife Martina. The name is a portmanteau of "Aristo" and "Tristano". Chono appears as a gang member in the 2017 video game Yakuza Kiwami 2 , alongside Genichiro Tenryu , Keiji Mutoh , Riki Choshu and Tatsumi Fujinami . Besides appearing in numerous TV shows, he
4150-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
4316-483: A loss to Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura . Muto would wrestle only one match for NJPW in 2005 at Nexess VI, where he defeated Ron Waterman. He then appeared at Wrestle Kingdom I in 2007 where he reunited with former partner and rival Masahiro Chono to defeat Tencozy in a "Super Dream Tag match" pitting NJPW and AJPW wrestlers together. On January 4, 2008, at Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome , under
4482-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
4648-621: A match for the title that took place on March 20, 2012, which Muto eventually lost. On June 1, Muto returned to the United States to make an appearance for Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) in Rahway, New Jersey , teaming with Kai to defeat Anthony Nese and Sami Callihan in a tag team match. In November 2012, Muto and his business partners sold all of their All Japan shares to the Speed Partners corporation for ¥ 200 million. On June 1, 2013, Speed Partners president Nobuo Shiraishi took over as
4814-611: A member of the New World Order , as well as occasional appearances in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Pro Wrestling Noah and Pro Wrestling Zero1 . Chono holds the record for most wins of the G1 Climax at 5, which has earned him the nicknames "Mr. August" and "Mr. G1" . Overall, he is a two-time world champion, with one reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion and NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion each. He
4980-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
5146-587: A neck injury and was out of action, turning the nWo into a face stable. Muto would then team with teammate Satoshi Kojima as they won the Super Grade Tag League by defeating Shinya Hashimoto and Tatsumi Fujinami in the final on December 6. At Wrestling World on January 4, 1999, Muto defeated one of Chono's right-hand men, Scott Norton to win his third IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The following month, Masahiro Chono returned to NJPW and disagreed with Muto over Muto's philosophy and leadership of
Keiji Muto - Misplaced Pages Continue
5312-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
5478-508: A non-title match at Wrestle-1. Muto then entered the Real World Tag League alongside Animal Warrior but failed to advance in the tournament. Muta successfully defended the title against The Gladiator in his first title defense on January 13, 2003. On January 19, Muto teamed with Goldberg to defeat KroniK in a tag team match, which led to KroniK being injured in the match and being forced to retire. On February 23, Muta lost
5644-516: A non-title match. On February 17, Muto competed as Great Muta for a special tag team match in which he teamed with Tajiri to defeat Goldustin and Hakushi . In March, Muto participated in the 2007 Champion Carnival , competing in Block A and finishing with 6 points total; Muto defeated Toshiaki Kawada in the finals on March 30, winning the tournament for a third time. At Pro-Wrestling Love In Yokohama, Muto unsuccessfully challenged Minoru Suzuki for
5810-535: A promoter, with New Japan permitting him to set up cards in different areas of Japan. Following the 2007 G1 Climax , it appears that Chono may be breaking away from his BLACK faction and formed the Legend stable, having sworn in wrestlers such as Riki Choshu, Jushin Thunder Liger , Shiro Koshinaka , and AKIRA . Outside wrestling, Chono began appearing on Gaki no Tsukai 's " No Laughing Batsu Game " as one of
5976-557: A result of this, Muta bled profusely for the rest of the match, and to this day he still bears scars from where he sliced. On January 4, 1993, Muta defeated Masahiro Chono in a title versus title match at Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome (known in North America as WCW/New Japan Supershow III ) to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, thus becoming
6142-593: A series of cross-promotional "dream" matches. In the main event, Muto reverted to his Great Muta persona and teamed with Arashi to defeat Prophecy members Christopher Daniels and Dan Maff . Muto and Arashi finally lost the tag titles to Kaz Hayashi and Satoshi Kojima on January 18, 2004. Muto would then support AJPW in its feud with Roughly Obsess and Destroy and spent most part of the fall of 2003 and 2004 by competing in several matches against RO&D members. Muto found success in 2004 by entering that year's Champion Carnival , which he won by defeating Takao Omori in
6308-562: A six man tag team match for Dotonbori Pro Wrestling on April 13, 2014. He teamed with Daisuke Masaoka and Hayata in a loss to Super Delfin , Hub , and Gran Hamada . Since 2014, Chono's appearances have been limited to non-active roles such as commentary, talk battles and special appearances. In a 2017 interview, Chono did not completely rule out the possibility of a return to the ring but believed it would be unlikely due to various injuries. In 2021, he revealed that he had been suffering from spinal stenosis and underwent surgery for it, which
6474-508: A six-man tag team match. Professional wrestler 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches
6640-609: A stroke after competing in a match. Muto took the blame for the incident, which led to All Japan suspending not only Taru, but also Kazuhiko Masada , Masayuki Kono and Minoru Tanaka who were present when the attack took place. After being on the midcard and without a big feud for most of 2011, Muto became the main challenger for Noah's Jun Akiyama , who had won the Triple Crown Championship from Suwama . Muto reunited with Kenta Kobashi at All Together to defeat Akiyama and Takao Omori . Akiyama challenged Muto to
6806-658: A tag team match. On October 23, Muto and Kenso lost the World Tag Team Championship to Dark Cuervo and Dark Ozz , thus ending Muto's final championship reign in All Japan. On June 7, 2011, Muto announced his resignation as the president of All Japan Pro Wrestling, remaining in the promotion as an active wrestler and a member of the Supervisory Board. Muto's decision stemmed from a real-life incident where Yoshikazu Taru assaulted Nobukazu Hirai backstage at an All Japan Pro Wrestling show, which led to Hirai suffering
Keiji Muto - Misplaced Pages Continue
6972-482: A tournament for the vacant All Asia Tag Team Championship by teaming with Kaz Hayashi, defeating Ryota Hama and Shuji Kondo in the quarter-final before losing to Minoru Suzuki and Nosawa Rongai in the semi-final. On March 14, Muto defended his Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against Yoshihiro Takayama . He bloodied him severely, as is his trademark, and even used the Shining Wizard to his opponent on
7138-468: A turn on his nWo teammates, double-crossed Kensuke Sasaki and Kazuo Yamazaki , sealing away the Muta name and formally joining nWo Japan as himself. Almost immediately following this, he and Chono dominated the tag team scene in NJPW, defeating Yamazaki and Sasaki for their second IWGP Tag Team Championship reign as a duo on October 19, and spray-painting the plates of the belts black as a show of disrespect for
7304-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
7470-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
7636-557: A victory over JOKER (Kuuga, Orochi, and Tadasuke ). On October 3, 2011, Chono returned to NJPW for a Team Wolf reunion match, teaming with Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hiro Saito to defeat Osamu Nishimura, Koji Kanemoto , and Shinjiro Otani. In January 2013, Chono signed with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as an advisor. On August 25, 2013, Chono teamed with Joe Doering and defeated KENSO and AJPW President Nobuo Shiraishi in an exhibition tag team match. Chono left AJPW in 2014. After returning to freelance, Chono wrestled once in eight years:
7802-542: A war with the Chono-led nWo Japan . In the process, Muto began teasing at a possible turn to the side of the nWo, proclaiming himself to be the true successor to Antonio Inoki's legacy, and "accidentally" attacking his own partners in the middle of a match. During this period, Muto underwent a long slump in big matches, losing not only to members of the nWo, but fellow New Japan wrestlers including Power Warrior at Wrestling World on January 4, 1997, and Shinya Hashimoto for
7968-528: A year, Muta finally lost the title to Shinya Hashimoto on September 20. Following this title loss and a match with Hogan against the Hell Raisers ( Hawk Warrior and Power Warrior ) on September 23, Muto returned to fighting primarily under his real name, reviving the Muta name for certain matches. On December 10, Muto received a rematch against Hashimoto for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, which he failed to win. Muto resumed teaming with Hiroshi Hase in
8134-430: Is a Japanese-American retired professional wrestler and actor best known for his 26-year stint with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). As the leader of nWo Japan , Team 2000 and Black New Japan , he was the promotion's top heel for much of his career, beginning in 1994 when he adopted a yakuza inspired gimmick. Aside from his work in NJPW, Chono has also made appearances for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), as
8300-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
8466-676: Is also a seven-time IWGP Tag Team Champion . Chōno debuted in 1984 against Keiji Mutoh at a New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) event in Saitama , Japan. In 1987, he defeated Shinya Hashimoto to win the Young Lions Cup . After winning the tournament, he went on an excursion that started in Europe, wrestling for Otto Wanz 's Catch Wrestling Association . After a while in Europe , Chono went on an excursion to North America , starting in
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#17327984844138632-434: Is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are
8798-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
8964-604: Is one of the most influential in puroresu , emulated by many wrestlers, and seen as the most prevalent of Muto's alter ego's. Many wrestlers copied or modified some of the moves that he popularized or innovated, such as the Shining Wizard , Moonsault (also known as the Rounding Body Press ), Muta Lock , and the Dragon-screw leg-whip . He took part in what was generally considered to be one of
9130-555: The 2008 Champion Carnival , winning only two matches and failing to advance in the round robin stage. Muto and Doering lost the World Tag Team Championship to Minoru Suzuki and Taiyo Kea after a five-month reign on June 28. Muto had won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in NJPW earlier in 2008 and successfully defended the title in All Japan against Hirooki Goto at Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 5. On September 29, Muto wrestled as The Great Muta as he defeated Suwama to capture
9296-507: The 2009 Real World Tag League . The duo won the tournament by defeating Masayuki Kono and Suwama. The 2009 Real World Tag League win earned Muto and Masakatsu Funaki, a title match for the World Tag Team Championship against Minoru Suzuki and Taiyo Kea on January 3, 2010, which Muto and Funaki won. On January 30, Muto, under his Great Muta gimmick, made a special appearance for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in Los Angeles, California, during
9462-532: The G1 Climax , where he lost only one match to Tatsumi Fujinami while winning the rest of his matches in the block thus qualifying to the final against Manabu Nakanishi, which he lost, leading to a match between Muto and Nakanishi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Final Dome, where Muto retained. Muto revived Great Muta character at Jingu Climax on August 28 for a No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Barricade Explosive Land Mine Double Hell Deathmatch against Great Nita , which Muta won. The following month, Muto entered
9628-399: The IWGP Tag Team Championship with Mutoh, and on December 26 he defeated his mentor, wrestling legend Lou Thesz , when Thesz came out of retirement for one last match. The next year, Chono solidified his main-event status with an amazing performance in the first G1 Climax tournament, winning the tournament in a thirty-minute final over Mutoh. He won the tournament again in 1992, winning
9794-505: The IWGP Tag Team Championship , marking Muto's second reign with the title. He and Chono would hold the titles for over six months, before finally losing them to Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki on November 1. During this time, Muto also entered the Kyushu Cup tournament on June 12, in which he defeated Chono to advance to the finals of the tournament, where he lost to Hashimoto. On September 7, Muto introduced his Great Muta moniker for
9960-547: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the process. Since then, he has won the tournament on three more occasions. On September 23, 1992, Chono suffered a serious neck injury from a botched sitdown tombstone piledriver while defending the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Steve Austin . On January 4, 1993, he lost the NWA World title to IWGP Heavyweight champion The Great Muta in
10126-554: The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship , making him an overall nine-time world champion . He is also a 13-time world tag team champion with five AJPW World Tag Team Championships , six IWGP Tag Team Championships , one GHC Tag Team Championship , and one WCW World Tag Team Championship . In total, he held 32 championships throughout his 38 year career. In 2013, Muto founded W-1, where he also wrestled semi-regularly. He made special appearances for
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#173279848441310292-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
10458-639: The Shining Wizard , to defeat Kazunari Murakami . Since its creation, it has become an extremely popular move on both sides of the Pacific, used by Muto's allies, rivals, and fans of his work. Muto would begin appearing in both New Japan and on a part-time basis All Japan, which led to Muto creating a new stable with Don Frye and Shinjiro Otani which later came to be known as Bad Ass Translate Trading (BATT). Added to their ranks were Taiyō Kea of All Japan Pro Wrestling and Jinsei Shinzaki of Michinoku Pro Wrestling . Muto defeated AJPW's veteran Toshiaki Kawada in
10624-533: The Super Grade Tag League with stablemate Scott Norton, which they won by defeating Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata in the final. On December 10, Muto finally lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Genichiro Tenryu. The war between Chono and Muto was lost by Muto at the 2000 Wrestling World event as he was defeated by Chono. Muto took an extended hiatus to rehabilitate his damaged knees after that, focusing instead on one last run in America for WCW, thus marking
10790-786: The United States for Central States Wrestling in Kansas City, which by then broke away from the National Wrestling Alliance to form the World Wrestling Alliance. He would also later wrestle in the Canadian Maritimes for Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling and in Puerto Rico , where he, Hashimoto, and Mutoh formed The Three Musketeers . Chono returned to NJPW part-time in July 1988. He came back to
10956-838: The WCW World Television Championship on September 3, 1989. Muto eventually lost the championship to Arn Anderson on January 2, 1990, which aired on the January 12, 1990, edition of WCW Power Hour , and some time after the Clash of the Champions X on February 6, Muto would return to New Japan, going between his real name and his Muta gimmick as he pleased. Muto quickly rose in the ranks upon returning to New Japan Pro-Wrestling in March 1990. He made his in-ring return to NJPW on April 27 by teaming with Masahiro Chono to defeat Shinya Hashimoto and Masa Saito to win
11122-605: The World Wrestling Federation . Muto, as a member of New Japan Pro-Wrestling , made part-time appearances to All Japan in 2001, fighting Toshiaki Kawada and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams in major singles matches on pay-per-view. 2001 proved to be Muto's year of renewal besides the formation of his BATT unit in New Japan, as he challenged, and defeated Genichiro Tenryu for All Japan's coveted Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship on June 8. In Muto's first title defense on July 14, Steve Williams lost to Muto for
11288-536: The WrestleReunion 4 weekend, teaming up with Kai in a match, where they defeated the team of Joey Ryan and Scott Lost . On March 9, Muto and Funaki were forced to vacate the titles due to Muto going through a reconstructive knee surgery that kept him out of the ring for the rest of the year. Muto returned to All Japan as Great Muta at Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol.10 in August, where he lost to Kenso in
11454-495: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
11620-434: The moonsault press were finally catching up to him. During this time, he took a hiatus from action, returning just before the 1998 G1 Climax , from which he was eliminated by Genichiro Tenryu in the first round. Despite his return, Muto was plagued by this nagging injury, fighting through his pain throughout the rest of 1998 and all of 1999. Towards the end of 1998, Muto took the leadership of nWo Japan, after Chono suffered
11786-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
11952-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
12118-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
12284-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
12450-540: The American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, renamed Impact Wrestling in 2017) from 2014 to 2019, as part of a talent exchange with W-1. In June 2022, Muto announced that he would retire in 2023. His retirement match occurred on February 21, 2023, in the Tokyo Dome during Noah's Keiji Muto Grand Final Pro-Wrestling "Last-Love" event. In April 2023 , Muto was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame . Muto
12616-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
12782-524: The Great Muta persona, he defeated Hirooki Goto . On April 27, Muto defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win his fourth IWGP Heavyweight Championship, this was his second appearance in 2008 for NJPW and he had not held the title for eight years and four months prior to the win. After retaining the title against Manabu Nakanishi and Togi Makabe , Muta defended the title against former champion Shinsuke Nakamura at Destruction on October 13 and retained following
12948-558: The Greatest 18 Club Championship to focus on defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He successfully defended the title against Scott Norton on October 18 and Sting on November 22. On December 14, Muta faced Hiroshi Hase in a winning effort in a famous match where Hase used a foreign object to beat at Muta's forehead, as payback for their previous encounters, including the September 14, 1990, encounter, in which Muta busted Hase open. Muta bladed and cut very deeply into his forehead. As
13114-513: The IWGP Heavyweight Championship on June 5. The turn was teased many times. Muto would even wear an nWo shirt only to proclaim days later that he refused to join Chono's army. Muto further raised confusion by playing both sides of the feud; fighting as a member of New Japan under his real name, and as The Great Muta in nWo Japan, before being The Great Muta full-time for several months in 1997. The full turn came in September 1997, when Muto, after teasing
13280-496: The IWGP Tag Team Championship at Budokan Hall on November 5. On January 4, 1992, Muto headlined the Super Warriors in Tokyo Dome event as Great Muta by teaming with Sting for the first time ever to defeat The Steiner Brothers at the Tokyo Dome . This was the first January 4 Tokyo Dome Show , which would become the flagship event for NJPW in years to come. At the NJPW 20th Anniversary Show on March 1, Muto and Hase lost
13446-582: The IWGP Tag Team Championship on February 2. At Clash of the Champions XIII in November 1990, it was announced that The Great Muta would be returning to World Championship Wrestling at Starrcade '90: Collision Course the following month to team with Mr. Saito. At Starrcade, Muto teamed with Saito in the Pat O'Connor Memorial Tag-Team Tournament at Starrcade. The duo defeated The New Zealand Militia in
13612-505: The IWGP Tag Team Championship to Big Van Vader and Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow . Muto continued to rise as a singles competitor, gaining his first title shot at the prestigious IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Riki Choshu on May 17, which he failed to win. Muto participated in the 1992 G1 Climax for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship , defeating Barry Windham in the opening round in Shizuoka on August 6 and Steve Austin in
13778-554: The IWGP Tag Team Titles on six occasions and also won the very prestigious IWGP Heavyweight Title in 1998. In 2002, Chono won his fourth G1 Climax tournament and had a brief, memorable feud with WWE's Chyna . He also became a booker for NJPW around this time. In 2003, Chono briefly joined Pro Wrestling NOAH for a handful of matches and was defeated by GHC Champion Kenta Kobashi on 2 May of that year. On October 13, he lost to Hulk Hogan . In early 2004, Chono became
13944-666: The May 30 episode of WCW Saturday Night , defeating Brad Armstrong in a best of three contest. On June 7 Muta was pinned by Scott Steiner at a house show at the Omni in Atlanta, GA. He finished out his short run facing Larry Zybysko on successive house shows, then returned to New Japan. On December 25, he returned to WCW to begin another short stint, losing to Sting in a non-title match in Jacksonville, Florida. He wrestled Sting again on
14110-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
14276-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
14442-537: The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against Masahiro Chono at an All Japan event on October 27. The following day, at a New Japan event, Muto and Kea defeated Osamu Nishimura and Tatsumi Fujinami in a title versus title match to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship as well, thus giving Muto a total of six belts at one time. Muto and Kea would win that year's Real World Tag League by defeating Mitsuya Nagai and Toshiaki Kawada in
14608-572: The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship but failed to win the title. While continuing to feud with RO&D, Muto and his supporters from the AJPW roster also began feuding with the Voodoo Murders . In November, Muto teamed with Akebono as they entered the 2005 Real World Tag League , making it to the final against Team 3D , which they lost. On March 10, 2006, Muto revived his Great Muta moniker as he unsuccessfully challenged Satoshi Kojima for
14774-467: The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the third time, becoming only the second wrestler, after Satoshi Kojima , to hold the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the same time. Muta successfully defended the title against Minoru Suzuki at Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 6. Muto closed out the year with an unsuccessful stint in the 2008 Real World Tag League alongside Ryota Hama . In 2009, Muto took part in
14940-480: The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in a pay-per-view main event, where it ended in an altercation. After leaving the backstage area Williams would then going on a huge swearing tirade, where he kicked a trash can, was about to cry in tears, and then throwing his arm-pads to the ground while swearing again. Such scenes never happened in the traditional All Japan and was characteristic to the "crash TV" style of Vince Russo 's writing. This would ultimately lead Muto to
15106-447: The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship to Shinya Hashimoto . Shortly after his title loss, Muto entered the 2003 Champion Carnival , defeating John Tenta in the quarter-final but lost to Arashi in the semi-final. On June 8, Muto teamed with Arashi to participate in a tournament for the vacant World Tag Team Championship, which they won by defeating Gigantes and The Gladiator in the semi-final and Jimmy Yang and Satoshi Kojima in
15272-429: The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship to Toshiaki Kawada on February 24. Returning to his grudge feud with Steve Williams, Muto had a singles match against Williams on pay-per-view, which Williams ultimately won and got his revenge for losing the year prior. In April, Muto participated in the 2002 Champion Carnival , where he lost only two matches in his block while winning the rest of his matches and thus advancing to
15438-399: The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. In the fall of the year, Muto and his partner Joe Doering participated in the 2007 Real World Tag League , which they won by defeating Satoshi Kojima and Suwama in the final on December 9. This earned them a title shot for the World Tag Team Championship against Kojima and TARU on January 3, 2008, which Muto and Doering won. In April, Muto entered
15604-414: The Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. Muto failed in the 2006 Champion Carnival and continued his feud with Voodoo Murders throughout the year. At the end of the year, Muto was paired with Toshiaki Kawada in the 2006 Real World Tag League , where they tied Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan with eight points in the round robin stage, which led to a match between the two teams on December 2 to determine
15770-786: The United States in October 1988 and teamed with Mike Davis in Continental Championship Wrestling (CCW), by then renamed the Continental Wrestling Federation (CWF), and won that company's tag titles as the Japanese Connection. In April 1989, he took part in the IWGP Heavyweight Championship tournament, held at New Japan's very first show at the Tokyo Dome ; he lost to eventual winner of
15936-609: The Voodoo Murders (Dupree, KENSO , and Joe Doering ). In December 2010, Chono began working for Antonio Inoki's Inoki Genome Federation as a booker. On March 6, 2011, Chono entered Pro Wrestling ZERO1 for their 10th Anniversary Show, where he defeated Daichi Hashimoto in his debut match. On April 17, 2011, Chono wrestled for Osaka Pro, where he teamed with Kuuga and Orochi in a losing effort against Shodai Tiger Mask , Billyken Kid, and Tsubasa. On August 14, 2011, Chono returned to Osaka Pro, teaming with TAJIRI and Zeus in
16102-536: The WCW United States Championship. Austin defeated him by disqualification. This would be his last US appearance for nearly a year, and he would not return until February 19, 1995, when he was shown in the crowd at SuperBrawl IV . He returned to WCW on May 21, 1995, to defeat Paul Orndorff at Slamboree '95 . After suffering a knee injury in early 2000, Muto took a hiatus from NJPW and returned to WCW in mid-2000 to team with Vampiro . Due to
16268-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
16434-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
16600-410: The attackers, usually giving Hōsei Tsukitei a slap to the face. In January 2010 it was reported that Chono would be leaving New Japan and becoming a freelancer, after spending most of his career with the company. In March 2010, Chono portrayed Nobunaga Oda in two matches during a Samurai Festival after leaving New Japan. Chono wrestled AKIRA, who portrayed Mitsuhide Akechi , on both days, winning
16766-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
16932-556: The bad booking and the decline of WCW in its last years, however, Muto could not recapture the previous popularity he had in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He returned to television on the July 11, 2000, episode of Thunder and teamed with The Jung Dragons against Three Count and Tank Abbott . A week later he appeared on Nitro , defeating Vampiro in the quarterfinals of the United States Heavyweight Championship tournament. Later that night he
17098-484: The barricade. During the course of the match, however, his mask was ripped off, and he was bleeding profusely. Towards the end of the match, Takayama dominated Muta, but Muta reversed a kick into a Dragon Screw , and attempted to use the Asian Mist against him, but Takayama blocked it, and performed an Everest Suplex Pin on Muta, and won the match. Muta subsequently walked away in shock of what had happened. Following
17264-527: The bloodiest professional wrestling matches at the 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. Muto is one of the five wrestlers to win the three major championships of puroresu (AJPW's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship , NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight Championship , and Pro Wrestling Noah 's GHC Heavyweight Championship ) with Kensuke Sasaki , Yoshihiro Takayama , Satoshi Kojima , and Yuji Nagata . He also held
17430-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
17596-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
17762-491: The championship's legacy. They continued their dominance in the tag team division by winning the Super Grade Tag League by defeating Manabu Nakanishi and Shinya Hashimoto in the final on December 8. On January 4, 1998, Muto headlined Final Power Hall in Tokyo Dome as he unsuccessfully challenged Kensuke Sasaki for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Muto and Chono were forced to vacate the IWGP Tag Team Championship on April 21, when Muto injured his knees, as his years of using
17928-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
18094-512: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
18260-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
18426-459: The dissolution of nWo Japan as it merged into Chono's Team 2000. After a planned tag team match with FMW's Hayabusa for Wrestling World 2001 was cancelled due to Hayabusa's injury to both his elbows that required reconstructive surgery, it seemed as if Muto reached a confusing crossroads in his career; however, he chose to completely change his image, shaving his head bald (he had a pronounced receding hairline throughout much of 2000), growing out
18592-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
18758-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
18924-514: The fall of 1993 and the duo wrestled the Steiner Brothers in a losing effort at Battlefield on January 4, 1994. Muto reprised his Great Muta moniker for a dream match against the legendary Antonio Inoki at May's Wrestling Dontaku , which Muta lost. In October, Muto and Hase entered the Super Grade Tag League , where they lost only two matches in the tournament, winning rest of their matches and scored fourteen points, thus advancing to
19090-537: The famed Tokyo City Hotel, Mokoto Baba officially announced Muto's appointment as the new president of All Japan, transferring all of the Baba family stock to him. Despite this position, however, Muto continued to wrestle full-time for the promotion. At Royal Road 30 Giant Battle In Budokan Final Battle on October 27, Muto under his Great Muta moniker, defeated Genichiro Tenryu to win his second Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. The following month, he lost to Bob Sapp in
19256-469: The final a day later. Muto would then defend the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first time in New Japan against Scott Hall on September 23, which Muto retained. Muto and Hase would then lose to Yuji Nagata and Jun Akiyama at Indicate of Next. Muto captured more gold by winning All Japan's World Tag Team Championship alongside stablemate Taiyō Kea by defeating Genichiro Tenryu and Yoji Anjo on October 22. Muto would then successfully defend
19422-643: The final round opponents for the top-ranked team in the tournament, RO'Z and Suwama . Muto and Kawada lost their match. On December 15, Muto teamed with Kannazuki to defeat Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Akimasa Haraguchi to become the inaugural F-1 Tag Team Champions . He made his British debut on January 12, 2007, wrestling for Real Quality Wrestling at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London , England , where he defeated RQW Heavyweight Champion Martin Stone in
19588-470: The final. Muto closed out the year with a successful title defense of the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against Tatsumi Fujinami at a New Japan event on December 11. Muto wrestled his last match as a member of the New Japan roster at Wrestling World 2002 on January 4, 2002, where he alongside his teammate Hiroshi Hase defeated Osamu Nishimura and Tatsumi Fujinami. Muto would then defect full-time to All Japan, which led to him and Kea being stripped off
19754-506: The final. On July 13, Muto failed to become the #1 contender for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship by losing to Toshiaki Kawada. After successfully defending the tag team titles, Muto and Arashi entered the Real World Tag League but they failed to advance in the tournament. On December 27, Muto made a return to the United States, wrestling for the Ring of Honor promotion as part of an interpromotional All Japan vs. ROH card, which hosted
19920-487: The finals on October 30, where they defeated Masahiro Chono and Super Strong Machine to win the tournament, thus earning an IWGP Tag Team Championship opportunity against Hell Raisers on November 25, which Muto and Hase won, thus marking their second reign as a team and Muto's fourth individual tag title reign. They successfully defended the titles against Steiner Brothers in their first title defense at Battle 7 on January 4, 1995. On February 3, Muto lost to Scott Norton in
20086-562: The first match and losing the second. On August 15, 2010, Chono returned to New Japan to serve as the special ring announcer for the G1 Climax final match between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Satoshi Kojima . On November 5 and 6, Chono appeared in a series of shows in Taiwan for All Japan. On November 5, Chono and Mutoh defeated the Voodoo Murders ( TARU and Rene Dupree ). The following day, Chono teamed with Mutoh and Masakatsu Funaki to defeat
20252-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
20418-549: The first time in NJPW during a match against Samurai Shiro, which Muto won. Muto would occasionally perform the Muta gimmick for major matches while competing under his real name for regular matches. On September 30, Muta picked up a huge win over Ricky Steamboat . Muto revived his Great Muta moniker at the WCW and NJPW-jointly promoted Starrcade in Tokyo Dome event on March 21, 1991, where he defeated Sting . Later that year, Muto and Chono, along with Hashimoto, cemented their status as
20584-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
20750-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
20916-457: The house show circuit, as well as Steve Austin. On December 28 he made his fourth successive Starrcade appearance, teaming with Barry Windham to defeat Brian Pillman and 2 Cold Scorpio . Later that night Muta eliminated Windham to win the Starrcade '92: Battlebowl – The Lethal Lottery II BattleBowl. On April 17, 1994, Muto returned to WCW to face Stunning Steve Austin at Spring Stampede for
21082-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
21248-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
21414-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
21580-453: The knockout stage on April 10, where he defeated Satoshi Kojima in the semi-final and Mike Barton (Bart Gunn) in the final to win the tournament. Three days later, at Grand Champion Carnival, Muto faced Genichiro Tenryu in a match for the vacant Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship after Kawada was forced to vacate the title due to injury. Muto lost the match. The following month, on May 12, Muto teamed with George Hines and Kaz Hayashi as
21746-571: The leader of the Black New Japan stable, which was the most dominating heel stable in NJPW until it was disbanded by Riki Choshu . As a reaction to this, Chono lead an "Anti-Choshu Army" with Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Black Strong Machine . Chono won the 2005 G1 Climax tournament, thus having achieved a record-setting five G1 victories. His success in the G1 has given him the nickname Mr. August. On October 30, 2005, Masahiro Chono and Tenzan defeated
21912-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
22078-557: The nWo Japan, thus leaving the group and Muto feuded with Chono for the name of the nWo, which evolved into a war between the nWo, led by Muto, Hiroyoshi Tenzan , and Satoshi Kojima and Chono's new Team 2000 unit, with himself, Don Frye , Super J , and others from the old generation of the nWo. Muto successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kensuke Sasaki at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Team 2000 member Don Frye at Strong Style Symphony, Genichiro Tenryu on May 5 and Satoshi Kojima on July 20. In August, Muto entered
22244-431: The new president of All Japan, firing the previous president, Muto's longtime right-hand man Masayuki Uchida, in the process, which led to Muto resigning from the promotion, effective June 30, 2013. Muto returned to NJPW as a member of the All Japan roster at Wrestling World on January 4, 2004, to team with Bob Sapp to defeat Cho-Ten . Muto next appeared at Pro-Wrestlers Be Strongest by teaming with Osamu Nishimura in
22410-410: The next generation of New Japan, surpassing Antonio Inoki , Tatsumi Fujinami , and Riki Choshu , after the finals of the first G1 Climax tournament on August 11. He lost to Scott Norton but defeated Tatsumi Fujinami and Big Van Vader in his block to advance to the final against Chono, which turned out to be an epic thirty-minute match in which Muto was bested by Chono and, together with Hashimoto,
22576-482: The opening battles of the feud with Nobuhiko Takada and the UWF-i army, defeating Takada in his fourth title defense on October 9. Muto closed the year with his fifth successful title defense against Shiro Koshinaka on December 11. Muto finally lost the title to Takada at Wrestling World on January 4, 1996. The latter half of 1996 had Muto pitted against Masahiro Chono's Ookami Gundan, which eventually blossomed into
22742-708: The organization in March 1989. Muto's personality and ring skills shown in his early American matches earned him a high billing within the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Muto first appeared as "Great Mota" in the NWA's World Championship Wrestling territory on the March 18, 1989, edition of WCW Saturday Night . His manager Gary Hart introduced him as the son of the Great Kabuki , whom Gary Hart also had managed years earlier. He defeated Cougar Jay in his debut match. Muto's name would eventually be changed to "The Great Muta". Muta would feud with stars like Lex Luger , Ric Flair , and Sting , from whom he would capture
22908-625: The primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
23074-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
23240-536: The quarterfinals on August 10, before losing to the eventual winner Masahiro Chono in the semi-finals on August 11. On August 16, Muto donned his Great Muta persona to beat Japanese legend Riki Choshu to win the Greatest 18 Club Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time, thus winning the first world championship of his professional wrestling career. He successfully defended both titles against Shinya Hashimoto on September 23 and then retired
23406-583: The quarterfinals, then Victor Zangiev and Salmon Hasimikov (representing the USSR ) in the semi-finals. Muta and Saito were defeated by then US Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers in the finals. Muta continued to make sporadic appearances within WCW during 1991 while wrestling regularly in New Japan. He was shown in attendance at WrestleWar 91 , and then defeated old rival Sting at the combined New Japan/WCW Starrcade event on March 21, 1991, in Tokyo, Japan. Muto
23572-406: The second of the only two men to hold both titles at the same time, the first being Tatsumi Fujinami . After losing the NWA title in WCW, Muta had a variety of challengers in title matches and exhibitions throughout the year. He lost to Hulk Hogan at Wrestling Dontaku in May and then successfully defended his IWGP title against The Great Kabuki on June 15. After holding the title for longer than
23738-399: The semi-final and Kensuke Sasaki in the final on April 20. Muto picked up a major win against Osamu Nishimura at Battle Banquet. In November, Muto teamed with Nishimura to participate in the 2004 Real World Tag League but could not advance in their block. In 2005, Muto defeated his pupil Hiroshi Tanahashi of NJPW at Realize. On July 26, Muto received a title shot against Satoshi Kojima for
23904-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
24070-591: The summer of 1987, Muto took part in the NOW vs. NEW feud, in which he aligned himself with Antonio Inoki and his group, teaming with the likes of Inoki, Seiji Sakaguchi , Yoshiaki Fujiwara , and Kantaro Hoshino , and battling the likes of Tatsumi Fujinami , Riki Choshu , Akira Maeda, Kengo Kimura , and Super Strong Machine . In January 1988, Muto went on another excursion, this time in Puerto Rico for Capitol Sports Promotions under his new ring name, "Super Black Ninja". He feuded with Miguel Perez Jr., with whom he lost
24236-515: The team of Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi to win their fifth IWGP Tag Team Championship. The team went on to rename themselves Cho-Ten , a portmanteau of the members' names. They were stripped of the titles in late 2006 after they split up, and refused to defend them together. Masahiro Chono formed a stable with Shinsuke Nakamura in 2006 called Chono and Nakamura-gun, which began feuding with Tenzan's new group, GBH . Chono continued to wrestle full-time in 2007, but also began working as
24402-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
24568-463: The three celebrated in the ring, then afterwards they were officially labeled "The Three Musketeers" of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. In October, Muto paired with Hiroshi Hase to participate in the 1991 Super Tag League , where they lost three of their tournament matches and won three, narrowly missing the chance to qualify for the knockout stage. However, shortly after the tournament, the duo found success as they defeated Rick Steiner and Scott Norton to win
24734-501: The title against Hiroyoshi Tenzan on June 14 and Hawk Warrior on July 13, before winning the G1 Climax in August, beating Hashimoto in the finals to become the first of two men to win the G1 Climax as IWGP Heavyweight Champion as Kensuke Sasaki would achieve this feat in 2000 . Muto held the IWGP title throughout the rest of the year. On September 25, Muto successfully defended the title against Junji Hirata. He would then lead New Japan in
24900-425: The title loss, Muto participated in the 2009 Champion Carnival , where he won four out of five matches in his block, losing only to Kaz Hayashi. As a result, Muto advanced to the semi-final of the tournament, where he lost to Minoru Suzuki. Muto would spend the entire year representing All Japan in matches against Voodoo Murders, Tokyo Gurentai and F4. In November, Muto teamed with Masakatsu Funaki to participate in
25066-648: The tournament and new champion Big Van Vader in the quarterfinals. During this time, he would return to the United States and have a brief run in Australia . Upon Chono's return to New Japan in October 1989, he reinvented himself. On October 15, 1989 during a match against Matt Borne where he was victorious, he debuted his signature move, the STF. On February 10, 1990, he wrestled in the main-event of NJPW's second Tokyo Dome show, teaming with Shinya Hashimoto against Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi , on April 27 he won
25232-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
25398-647: The trio won the Giant Baba Six-Man Cup tournament. On July 17, Muto and Kea lost the World Tag Team Championship to KroniK . At the Nippon Budokan on July 20, Muto wrestled as three different characters on the card: "Kokushi Muso", defeating Kaz Hayashi on the second match, himself in a six-man tag team match in the mid-card, and in the second-to-last match, he defeated Satoshi Kojima, under his "Great Koji" persona, as The Great Muta. On September 30, during an All Japan 30th Anniversary party at
25564-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
25730-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
25896-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
26062-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
26228-636: Was an accomplished amateur wrestler and a judo black belt with experience in many national competitions prior to being trained by Hiro Matsuda in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling Dojo. He debuted on October 5, 1984, against Masahiro Chono . In 1985, Muto was sent on his first learning excursion to the United States. Primarily wrestling in Championship Wrestling from Florida as the "White Ninja", Muto teamed with Kendo Nagasaki . During his first excursion, Muto became
26394-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
26560-781: Was entered into a match with United States Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger to determine the Number One Contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. On June 12 at Clash of the Champions XV , Muta was pinned by Luger to earn the right to challenge Ric Flair at The Great American Bash '91 . He went on to wrestle several house shows that month before returning to Japan. In May he returned again to WCW and began appearing on house shows in tag-team matches with Nikita Koloff against Big Van Vader and Rick Rude. He returned to television on
26726-571: Was pinned by Mike Awesome in the semifinals. He won the WCW World Tag-Team Championship with Vampiro at New Blood Rising against KroniK . They lost it the next night on Nitro against the team of Rey Mysterio and Juventud Guerrera . His last WCW match came at a house show on September 23, 2000, in Lubbock, TX against Sting. After leaving WCW, a no-compete clause in his WCW contract prevented him from competing in
26892-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
27058-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
27224-720: Was successful. In a 2022 interview, Chono discussed how Keiji Muto requested to have his retirement match with him but was unsure if he could compete. On February 21, 2023, Chono was challenged to an impromptu match by Muto during Muto's retirement show at the Tokyo Dome , which Chono won. Chono announced his own retirement following the match. On December 28, 1991, Chono married Martina Carlsbad, whom he met while on an excursion in Germany in 1987. Together they have one son (born July 4, 2006) and one daughter (born August 2009). In late-June 1995, Chono's father died. His death forced Chono to miss an IWGP Tag Team title defense and take
27390-419: Was the president of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) from 2002 to 2013 and representative director of Wrestle-1 (W-1) from 2013 until its closure in 2020. Considered one of the greatest and most influential wrestlers of all time, Muto is one of the first Japanese wrestlers ( puroresura ) to gain an international fanbase in the 1990s and beyond, thanks in large part to his Great Muta gimmick . The gimmick
27556-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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