A moonsault , moonsault press, or back flip splash is a professional wrestling aerial technique . It was innovated by Mando Guerrero . Much of its popularity in both Japanese and American wrestling is attributed to The Great Muta , despite it being used in North America by "Leaping" Lanny Poffo years before Muta came from Japan. In a standard moonsault, which is generally attempted from the top rope, a wrestler faces away from the supine opponent and executes a backflip landing on the opponent in a splash /press position but facing towards the elevated position. Though this move is generally attempted from the top rope to an opponent lying face up in the mat, myriad variations exist, including moonsaults that see the wrestler land on a standing opponent and forcing them down to the mat. The move is considered a higher-impact version of a splash, since the wrestler utilizes rotational speed.
179-417: A less common variation sees the wrestler perform a moonsault on a standing opponent, with the torso of the wrestler striking the torso of the opponent (albeit upside down), forcing the opponent backwards and to the ground with the opponent on top of them, usually placing the opponent in a pinning predicament. Most of the variations listed below can also be performed on standing opponents. When executed properly
358-733: 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
537-581: 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
716-531: 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
895-581: 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
1074-600: A No Contest in which Mysterio kept his title. On the June 13 premiere of ECW on Sci Fi , Sabu won a 10-man Extreme Battle Royal with the stipulation that the winner face John Cena at Vengeance . Sabu further fueled the feud during the next week's Raw , when he interfered in a Cena match and performed a Triple Jump Leg Drop on him, diving onto Cena and putting him through the announcers' table. Cena defeated Sabu in their "Extreme Lumberjack match " at Vengeance. On July 2, Sabu, traveling with fellow ECW wrestler Rob Van Dam,
1253-522: A No Contest when Malice interfered. In 2004, Sabu teamed with Raven to defeat Raven's former " Gathering " protégés, CM Punk and Julio Dinero . In March, he began feuding with Monty Brown and Abyss , who outnumbered him on several occasions after Raven failed to "watch his back". Eventually Raven challenged Sabu to an empty arena match to be held on June 9, but Sabu refused to wrestle him, claiming that he had promised his uncle, Ed "The Sheik" Farhat , that he would never fight Raven. Raven then waged
1432-533: A benefit show, A Night of Appreciation for Sabu , was held by the AWWL to raise funds for him. The show was considered a success, raising enough money for Brunk to cover the costs of his medical care and he was able to make a full recovery. In his first match back from the injury in the AWWL/BTW, he defeated N8 Mattson. Sabu then appeared at Hardcore Homecoming , where he defeated Terry Funk and Shane Douglas in
1611-561: A booking in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), which led Paul Heyman to publicly and legitimately fire Sabu at the event. Sabu stated in the Forever Hardcore documentary that he by then had a career wrestling in Japan and now only wrestled once every so often for ECW; thus, he chose Japan over ECW. Sabu wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling throughout 1995, making a total of 64 appearances. He made his debut on January 4 in
1790-416: A campaign against Sabu, disrespecting the memory of his uncle and assaulting Sabu's friend Sonjay Dutt , until Sabu finally broke and attacked him on July 23. Raven defeated Sabu on August 4, and a scheduled return match on August 18 was canceled after Sabu legitimately suffered a serious back injury. While injured, Brunk contracted a virus and was hospitalized, sidelining him for ten months. On December 12,
1969-499: A chair or other elevated platform, onto the top rope, and then does a moonsault from there onto the opponent. This move has been popularized by wrestler Sabu . Tiffany Stratton uses a variation of the move where she uses the ropes for each jump, called the Prettiest Moonsault Ever . Invented by Naomichi Marufuji and called Shiranui Kai . Any move where the wrestler stands on an elevated position, grabs hold of
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#17327874797322148-413: A dark match at a WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping. In 1991, Sabu made his first tour of Japan with Frontier Martial–Arts Wrestling (FMW). While wrestling for FMW, Sabu received many of the scars on his arms and torso for which he became famous. Brunk cleared rumors that the scars were self-induced in a shoot interview with RF Video, confirming that they were a result of numerous hardcore matches he
2327-441: 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
2506-489: A fallaway slam but instead of just throwing them backwards does a backflip slamming the opponents back into the mat. This move is used by Cameron Grimes , and was innovated by Scott Steiner as a counter to a running crossbody . A diving/avalanche version of it is used by Bandido as Guerrero Moonsault . Popularized by Iyo Sky , while performing in World Wonder Ring Stardom , this move involves
2685-510: A feud between the two of them. They went on to have a match at Unbreakable in September which Abyss won after performing his Black Hole Slam finisher on to a pile of tacks in the ring. Sabu once again found himself squaring off against Rhino and Abyss, as well as Jeff Hardy , during Bound for Glory in the Monster's Ball 2 match. Rhino won the match. On the same night, Sabu competed in
2864-558: A few appearances for United States Wrestling Association as Samu. He feuded with Jeff Jarrett and Robert Fuller . Sabu made three appearances for the World Wrestling Federation . He defeated Scott Taylor in a dark match before Monday Night Raw on October 18, 1993. He lost to Owen Hart the next night for a dark match at a Wrestling Challenge taping and on the October 20 defeated Scott Taylor again in
3043-585: 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
3222-507: 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,
3401-641: 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
3580-744: 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
3759-476: A lengthy feud with Rob Van Dam after defeating him in a no time limit match at Hostile City Showdown . However, RVD insulted Sabu by refusing to shake hands with him after the match. As a result, a respect match took place between the two at A Matter of Respect . Sabu lost the match and was thus forced to shake hands with RVD, but RVD refused by saying "not only do I not respect you, you're a piece of shit". The rivalry between Sabu and RVD continued as Sabu defeated
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#17327874797323938-483: 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
4117-473: A match against Samoa Joe for Joe's TNA X Division Championship , despite Sabu having a broken forearm, a match he lost. Sabu was released soon afterwards from TNA. Shortly after his TNA release, on April 24, 2006, Sabu's official website reported that he had signed a one-year contract with World Wrestling Entertainment . At the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view, Sabu faced Rey Mysterio for
4296-536: A match against the returning Kurt Angle to determine a number one contender. When that match was interrupted by the returning Rob Van Dam another match was signed, Angle versus Van Dam versus Sabu, for the number one contendership (Angle then became too injured to compete and was pulled from the match). Sabu beat Rob Van Dam in their ladder match to win a shot at Big Show at SummerSlam , a match which he ended up losing. At Survivor Series , Sabu teamed up with John Cena, Bobby Lashley , Rob Van Dam and Kane to face
4475-661: A match for the World Television Championship, which ended in a thirty-minute time limit draw. On the July 1 episode of Hardcore TV , Sabu and RVD defeated Chris Candido and Lance Storm to win the World Tag Team Championship , beginning Sabu's second individual reign with the title. Sabu and RVD held the title for nearly four months, retaining the titles against various ECW teams such as Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks ( Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney ), Full Blooded Italians , and The Dudley Boyz throughout
4654-688: 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
4833-628: A moonsault from the top rope. Instead of landing in a splash position, the wrestler finishes the rotation with a double foot stomp on the prone opponent. Keiji Mutoh 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
5012-587: 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
5191-508: 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
5370-516: 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
5549-537: A rebooted version of ECW . Sabu would wrestle for WWE until he was fired in 2007. He also became a regular wrestler in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling since the creation of the promotion in 2002. Brunk was trained by his uncle, Ed "The Sheik" Farhat , and was initially trained to be a technical wrestler. He began his wrestling career in 1985 in Farhat's promotion, Big Time Wrestling , and
Moonsault - Misplaced Pages Continue
5728-462: A rematch at High Incident . Sabu and RVD subsequently began teaming with each other and ended their rivalry. They began pursuing the World Tag Team Championship , facing The Eliminators in a #1 contender's match at November to Remember . The match ended in a time limit draw and both teams faced the reigning champions The Gangstas in an immediate three-way elimination match , which Gangstas won. RVD and Sabu continued to feud with Eliminators over
5907-557: 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
6086-468: A second complete backflip after the first one, landing on a standing opponent below. This is the more common of the two variants due to the increased airtime of the springboard and height from the springboard to the floor. This variant is closely associated with Jack Evans who popularized it as the Stuntin' 101 . Evans is also known to perform a corkscrew version of this variant. The second variation sees
6265-593: 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
6444-497: A shoot promo and in the documentary film Forever Hardcore that in fact it was not Paul Heyman that brought him into ECW but that he was at the right place at the right time. He was referred by a friend to Tod Gordon . According to the storyline, Sabu, who at that time often arrived to the ring by his handler 911 , was an uncontrollable madman strapped to a gurney and with a Hannibal Lecter -style face mask while trying to break free (he claimed to hate this part of his gimmick as he
6623-764: A singles competitor. In 2001, he competed against Abdullah the Butcher and Giant Kimala. On July 8, 2001, he defeated Angel at ECW Reunion Show in Buffalo, New York. In 2002, he worked for Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling . He won the 3PW World Heavyweight Championship defeating Gary Wolfe on October 19. He would drop the title to Wolfe on December 28. Sabu returned to Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling on December 22, 1997, when he defeated ECW rival The Sandman at Super Extreme Wrestling War 1997 at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall . Then on December 13, 1998, he and Rob Van Dam defeated
6802-614: A six-man tag team match in the main event of November to Remember , in which New Triple Threat defeated Triple Threat. At the ECW/FMW Supershow II in Japan, RVD and Sabu defeated Dudley Boyz to win their second World Tag Team Championship as a team, while it was Sabu's third individual title reign. On the December 23 episode of Hardcore TV , Sabu defeated Taz and Justin Credible in a three-way elimination match to win
6981-415: A six-man tag team match. Sabu (wrestler) Terrance Michael "Terry" Brunk (born December 12, 1964) is an American retired professional wrestler , better known by his ring name Sabu. He is known for his trademark style of hardcore wrestling , which he pioneered in his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 2000. He is a three-time World Heavyweight Champion having held
7160-682: A sixty-minute time limit draw, which meant that Funk retained the title. Sabu would then continue to retain the Television Championship against the likes of Pat Tanaka and Mike Awesome , before losing the title to The Tazmaniac, which aired on the March 15 episode of Hardcore TV . After the title loss, Sabu continued his feud with Funk, defeating him on the April 19 episode of Hardcore TV . At When Worlds Collide , Sabu teamed with Bobby Eaton to defeat Funk and Arn Anderson to conclude
7339-471: A springboard moonsault. This variation sees the wrestler bounce off the middle rope to elevate themself to the top rope, from where they bounce off to perform the moonsault. This version of a moonsault is often referred to as a picture perfect moonsault or double springboard moonsault. It was used by Christopher Daniels , who called the move the BME (Best Moonsault Ever) . This is a moonsault where another rotation
Moonsault - Misplaced Pages Continue
7518-610: 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
7697-494: A suspended sentence of 10 days in jail and a $ 500 fine. Meanwhile, he defeated Stevie Richards in an Extreme Rules match at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII . Towards the end of July, Sabu began to talk on camera for himself – instead of using a go between – and demanded a shot at Big Show 's ECW World Championship which Paul Heyman refused to grant him in order to "protect" his champion. Instead, he forced him into
7876-660: 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
8055-488: A ten-man Gauntlet Match to decide a number one contender, which he also lost, once again to Rhino. Sabu continued his feud with Abyss, once again losing to him at Genesis after taking a Black Hole Slam onto a barbed wire steel chair. They met up again, in the promotion's first ever Barbed Wire Massacre at Turning Point . Sabu finally beat Abyss, but following the match was not seen on TNA television for several months. He made his return at Lockdown on April 23, 2006, in
8234-670: A three-way hardcore match. Sabu took the victory in each of these matches, usually gaining the pinfall over Diamond after Saturn left the match to defend his companion. His final appearance for the WWA came in their last PPV, The Reckoning, in New Zealand. During this tour he first fought Shane Douglas but due to injury he did not face him at the PPV. Instead, Douglas came to the ring and eventually allowed Joe E Legend to face Sabu instead. Sabu won this match, his second and last WWA match ever. When
8413-436: A three-way no-ropes barbed wire match, and at ECW One Night Stand two days later, where he defeated Rhyno . Sabu returned to TNA on July 29, 2005. At Sacrifice Sabu teamed with his old enemy, and then NWA World Heavyweight Champion , Raven to face Jeff Jarrett and Rhino. Rhino and Jarrett won the match after Rhino gored Raven through a table and pinned him. The match saw Abyss interfering and attacking Sabu, starting
8592-482: 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
8771-525: A tournament for the vacated XPW World Heavyweight Championship defeating John Kronus in the first round, Damien Steele in the second and The Messiah in the finals. He was the only champion to defend the title outside of the States. He would hold the title for a year until it was taken away in May 2001 by Josh Lazie when Sabu was not present for an event. He would return to All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2000 as
8950-468: 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
9129-542: 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
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#17327874797329308-537: A winning streak against the likes of Cactus Jack at Holiday Hell , Stevie Richards at House Party , and Mr. Hughes at Big Apple Blizzard Blast . This led to Sabu challenging 2 Cold Scorpio for the World Television Championship . Sabu received various title shots against Scorpio at CyberSlam , Just Another Night , and Big Ass Extreme Bash , but the matches ended in twenty-minute time limit draws. He eventually engaged in matches and
9487-414: A wrestler ascend to the top rope and perform a backflip while tucking their legs. This allows the wrestler to have less resistance and continue to rotate after the initial first 360° for another 270° completing the second rotation onto an opponent lying on the mat. This was popularized by Ricochet . This is a variation of the double jump moonsault where, from a running start, the attacking wrestler jumps to
9666-457: A year of call-outs and insults from Taz, Paul Heyman revealed that he had asked Sabu, as a friend, to ignore Taz's challenge. This standoff culminated in a grudge match at ECW's first pay-per-view , Barely Legal , which Taz won. Following the match, Taz's manager Bill Alfonso turned on him and sided with Sabu and RVD. This resulted in a double turn as Taz became a fan favorite while Sabu turned heel. Sabu and Taz continued to feud on and off for
9845-528: 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
10024-535: Is a twisting moonsault in which the wrestler is standing or on an elevated platform, such as the top rope, or the corner of the ring, and performs a moonsault with a 360° twist or multiple twists, landing as if performing a normal moonsault. It was used by KUSHIDA early in his career as the Midnight Express while Tetsuya Naito previously used it as the Stardust Press . This is a Moonsault from
10203-544: Is known as La Quebrada in lucha libre , sometimes shortened to simply Quebrada. A variation performed off the second rope from a running start, popularized by Chris Jericho , is known as the Lionsault . A variation of the springboard moonsault is the Arabian Press (or a seated springboard moonsault ), which involves the performer's thighs both landing on a single top rope, and the performer then continues to use
10382-543: Is performed after the initial moonsault. There are two major variants of the double moonsault, an Asai moonsault version and a normal moonsault from the top turnbuckle to the inside of the ring with two rotations. The first rotation is an arc of the back The first variation sees a wrestler who is standing on the apron, with a wrestler on the floor behind them, jump up on to either the first or second rope and perform and backflip as in to perform an Asai moonsault but while in mid air tucks their legs reducing resistance and performs
10561-677: The Dragon-screw leg-whip . He took part in what was generally considered to be one of 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
10740-584: The 2007 Royal Rumble on January 28, where he was eliminated by Kane after receiving a chokeslam over the top rope and through a table. Sabu joined the ECW Originals along with Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. The ECW Originals began a feud with the New Breed ( Elijah Burke , Kevin Thorn , Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker). The two teams faced off in a match at WrestleMania 23 in which
10919-555: 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
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#173278747973211098-507: 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
11277-537: The Dudley Boyz to retain the ECW World Tag Team Titles at ECW/FMW Supershow . He would team up with Super Leather in a few tag team matches during 1999. On February 3, 2002, Sabu defeated former ECW wrestlers The Sandman and Vic Grimes in a three-way dance. The next day was his last match with FMW was when he teamed with Tetsuhiro Kuroda and lost to The Sandman and Kodo Fuyuki for
11456-640: The ECW FTW Championship and winning the ECW World Tag Team Championship with him. In 1997, Sabu began a tag team with Rob Van Dam , winning the ECW Tag Team Championship twice. After leaving ECW, Sabu wrestled in several national promotions, winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 2000. In 2006, he was hired by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as part of their new third brand,
11635-752: The ECW World Heavyweight Championship twice and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once. Under the tutelage of his uncle Ed "The Sheik" Farhat , Brunk began his career wrestling in the North American independent scene in 1985 under the name of Sabu, before traveling to Japan, competing in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), winning several championships , including
11814-734: The FTW Heavyweight Championship after Taz put Sabu on top of him. As a result, Sabu began feuding with Taz in early 1999, stemming from a broken jaw and a broken neck that Brunk suffered during a match against Taz in December 1998. The injury occurred when Brunk took a Taz-Plex through a table and landed incorrectly. Sabu avenged that by interfering in Taz's match against Shane Douglas for the World Heavyweight Championship at Guilty as Charged , attacked both men and left. After that, RVD and Sabu retained
11993-588: 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
12172-539: The Hollywood Star Press. This variation involves performing a corkscrew moonsault after using the impact of their thighs on the ropes to flip themselves over. It was popularized by John Morrison , who called the move the Starship Pain and The End of The World . This is a move in which a wrestler springboards (bounces off ropes), then executes a backflip and lands on an opponent. This move
12351-594: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship . He returned to the United States in 1995, briefly working for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), before beginning his most well-known stint in ECW, where he quickly became a fixture of the promotion. During his time in ECW, he became a two-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time ECW World Television Champion . He would have both a feud and an alliance with The Tazmaniac , defeated him for
12530-505: 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
12709-554: 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
12888-640: 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
13067-533: 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
13246-613: The Sydal Special ., a side slam version or a rolling version , which can also be performed while standing , John Morrison used the standing version as the C4 , while Frankie Kazarian use the rolling version as the Flux Capacitor . This variation is also referred to as a sideways moonsault, rolling moonsault, rounding splash, and Original-style moonsault. The attacker climbs the top rope, or other elevated position facing away
13425-628: The Tokyo Dome , teaming with Masahiro Chono to defeat Junji Hirata and Tatsumi Fujinami . Sabu and Chono teamed together on several more occasions to face Heisei Ishingun . On May 3, 1995, Sabu defeated Koji Kanemoto at Wrestling Dontaku in the Fukuoka Dome to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship . He lost the title to Kanemoto on June 14 in Tokyo's Nippon Budokan in a bout where Kanemoto's UWA World Welterweight Championship
13604-841: 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
13783-539: The World Heavyweight Championship . At the end of the match, Mysterio found himself standing on a ringside table with Sabu flying at him. Sabu caught the champ in a front facelock and nailed him with a DDT which caused both men to crash through the table. At this point, the WWE medical staff rushed to the injured men and declared neither man could continue and ordered the match stopped, resulting in
13962-526: 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
14141-537: 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
14320-434: 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
14499-428: The "Air Sabu" corner splash on Funk, Terry moved and Sabu ended up colliding violently into the wire which tore open his biceps. He then asked his manager Bill Alfonso for some tape and after Alfonso went to get some Sabu began to tape the approximately 10 inch gash up. Funk has stated that, to this day, he has never seen anything like what Sabu did that night. The match ended with both men so badly tangled up together in
14678-454: The 1980s and 1990s, and from his runs in other Japanese , American , Puerto Rican , and Mexican promotions . He 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
14857-539: The 1990s and beyond, thanks in large part to his Great Muta gimmick . The gimmick 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
15036-480: The All World Wrestling League began in April 2003 (a spin-off of Big Time Wrestling), which was run by Eddie & Tom Farhat, Sabu joined them for a while, before he left for another territory. Sabu debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on July 17, 2002, defeating Jerry "Malice" Tuite in a ladder match . The next week he faced Ken Shamrock in a ladder match which was declared
15215-539: 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
15394-719: The ECW Originals won. On the April 3 edition of ECW , the ECW Originals faced the New Breed again in a rematch, which the New Breed won after Burke performed the Elijah Express on Sabu through a table. Sabu's final WWE match was on the May 1 episode of ECW , where he competed in a fatal four-way match against Dreamer, Van Dam and Sandman to determine the number one contender for the ECW World Championship, which Van Dam won. On May 16, 2007, Sabu
15573-524: 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
15752-558: 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
15931-513: 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
16110-496: 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
16289-582: 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
16468-505: 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
16647-474: The January 30 episode of Hardcore TV , Sabu wrestled his last televised match in ECW, in which he defeated C.W. Anderson . Sabu's last match in ECW took place on February 26, in which he defeated Scott D'Amore . After that, Sabu left ECW. After leaving ECW, Sabu went to compete in the independent circuit . He worked for promotions such as Xtreme Pro Wrestling , IWA Mid-South , Stampede Wrestling , Border City Wrestling , and others. On April 29, 2000, he won
16826-617: 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
17005-480: The Moonsault. In an interview with Tokyo Sports , Mutoh told them that he was lucky to be alive after botching a moonsault. In an example of a moonsault gone spectacularly wrong, Eiji Ezaki, better known as Hayabusa , suffered a life-threatening injury on October 22, 2001, while working for the Japanese wrestling promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling . As Hayabusa began executing a springboard moonsault from
17184-487: The November 22 episode of Hardcore TV . In 1995, Sabu and Tazmaniac began feuding with The Public Enemy over the ECW World Tag Team Championship , failing to win the titles on the January 3 and January 31 episodes of Hardcore TV . Sabu and Tazmaniac finally defeated Public Enemy in a double tables match at the Double Tables to win the World Tag Team Championship on February 4. However, Sabu and Tazmaniac lost
17363-484: The September 11, 1995, episode of WCW Monday Nitro against Alex Wright . Sabu won the match, but the decision was reversed when, after the match, he put Wright through a table. Sabu continued to wrestle some of the cruiserweights in WCW in the early days of the division, including a match against Mr. J.L. at Halloween Havoc . Sabu came out victorious against Mr. J.L. and following the match Sabu's uncle Sheik shot J.L. in
17542-538: 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
17721-572: 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
17900-467: 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
18079-481: 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
18258-447: 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
18437-430: 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
18616-399: 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
18795-414: 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
18974-536: 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
19153-467: The World Tag Team Championship against D-Von Dudley in a singles match on the April 23 episode of Hardcore TV , which Dudley won. As a result, Dudley Boyz won the titles. In the summer of 1999, Sabu began a feud with Justin Credible, wrestling him in numerous matches at live events for various months. The rivalry led to a match between the two at Anarchy Rulz in September, which Credible won. Sabu would then challenge his tag team partner Rob Van Dam for
19332-436: The World Tag Team Championship against Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks at House Party . Sabu's rivalry with Taz led to the two competing in a falls count anywhere title unification match for Sabu's FTW Championship and Taz's ECW World Heavyweight Championship at Living Dangerously event. Taz won the match to unify both titles. Sabu would begin wearing a neck brace and take some time off, resulting in his partner RVD defending
19511-480: The World Television Championship on the November 19 episode of Hardcore TV and the November 26 episode of ECW on TNN , but failed to win the title both times. After defeating Chris Candido at November to Remember , Sabu continued his rivalry with RVD as he pursued the World Television Championship, unsuccessfully challenging RVD for the World Television Championship at Guilty as Charged on January 9, 2000. This would be Sabu's final pay-per-view appearance in ECW. On
19690-427: The attacker leaping forward into the air rotating their body in a semi-circle to end up-side down as if doing a midair cartwheel then landing on the opponent chest first facing the turnbuckle. Shane McMahon used this move in a 1999 singles match against Test . Alexa Bliss uses this move as her finisher, which she calls Twisted Bliss . Dana Brooke uses this move as a variation while running to an opponent lying on
19869-556: 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
20048-547: The barbed wire that it took several ring technicians armed with wire cutters to free them from the predicament (on the DVD Bloodsport – ECW's Most Violent Matches released by World Wrestling Entertainment , Paul Heyman said that the match was "so gruesome, I never ever dared to schedule another one like it", and that they never had another Barbed-Wire match in ECW because "no one could top that one – and in good conscience, I never wanted anyone to try"). Sabu went on to win
20227-484: 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
20406-491: 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
20585-459: 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
20764-462: The face with his trademark fireball . His last match in WCW was against Disco Inferno , which Sabu won. Sabu returned to Japan to work for Big Japan Pro Wrestling in March 1996. He had an 18-match winning streak first defeating Jason Knight on March 13 to June 4 losing to Kazuo Sakurada 's Kendo Nagasaki . He made his debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling in November 1996 teaming with Gary Albright . In 1997, he teamed with Rob Van Dam . In
20943-514: 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
21122-539: 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
21301-469: 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
21480-643: 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
21659-470: 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
21838-506: 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
22017-487: 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
22196-500: 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
22375-457: 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
22554-436: The impact of their thighs on the rope to flip themselves over, executing a moonsault onto a prone opponent. Sabu and Sami Zayn are best known to use this version as signature moves. When a springboard moonsault is performed onto an opponent on the floor outside the ring, rather than one in the ring, it is called an Asai Moonsault . It is named after Yoshihiro Asai, also known by his ring name Último Dragón , who popularized
22733-453: 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
22912-438: The latter in a standard match at Hardcore Heaven , a stretcher match at The Doctor Is In , and a grudge match at Unlucky Lottery , after which Sabu finally earned RVD's respect. RVD was about to shake Sabu's hand but The Can-Am Express attacked the two, leading to RVD and Sabu facing Can-Am Express at When Worlds Collide , a match which ended in a thirty-minute time limit draw. However, RVD and Sabu defeated Can-Am Express in
23091-596: The line. Sabu pinned Funk to win the Television Championship after Bundy turned on Funk. As a result, Sabu became a double champion. The rivalry between Sabu and Funk intensified as Sabu lost the Heavyweight Championship to Funk at Holiday Hell . Sabu received a rematch for the Heavyweight Championship against Funk in a Three Way Dance at The Night the Line Was Crossed on February 5, 1994, also involving Shane Douglas . The match ended in
23270-518: The main event of November to Remember , headlining ECW's premier event for the second consecutive year. The match prematurely ended when Benoit gave Sabu a back body drop and, expecting his opponent to land face-first, Sabu rotated himself in mid-air to attempt to land on his back. This injured Sabu's spinal cord resulting in nerve damage . However, Sabu returned to action two weeks later, and continued to wrestle Triple Threat in various matches, which saw Sabu and Tazmaniac defeat Dean and Joe Malenko on
23449-534: The mat, they rotate in opposite directions. This moonsault variation sees the performer jump up and split their legs onto both the left and right top ropes surrounding the top turnbuckle, using the impact of their thighs on the rope to flip themselves over, executing a moonsault onto a prone opponent. Rey Mysterio and Naomi uses this move. Also known for being used by CM Punk as the Crooked Moonsault earlier in his career and currently Rob Van Dam as
23628-479: The match ended in a no contest. As a result, Sabu engaged in a lengthy feud with Sandman, resulting in a series of matches, as Sabu defeated him in a Tables and Ladders match at November to Remember , lost to him in a Stairway to Hell match at the 1998 House Party , and defeated him again in a Dueling Canes match at Living Dangerously to conclude the rivalry. Shortly after the event, RVD and Sabu turned into fan favorites. At Wrestlepalooza , Sabu challenged RVD to
23807-500: The match, winning the title for a second time. However, just eight days later, Sabu lost the title to Shane Douglas in a three-way elimination match, also involving Funk at Hardcore Heaven . Sabu received a rematch against Douglas for the title at The Homecoming, but lost. In the mid-1997, Sabu was included in the WWF invasion angle , in which ECW wrestlers invaded WWF's Monday Night Raw program and held ECW-style matches and angles on
23986-491: The moonsault is generally considered safe, but as with any aerial maneuver, there is inherent high risk when not executed properly. The wrestler performing the move often misses and lands on their stomach unharmed (such as Keiji Mutoh during Starrcade (1989) , when he went for a Moonsault on Sting , but ended up missing; he was eventually able to land on his feet and land a kick). Mutoh underwent double knee replacement surgery on February 18, 2018, and has since then not performed
24165-547: The move. This can also be used as a setup for an inverted DDT , as popularized by AJ Styles . This is a wrestling move in which the wrestler does a backflip on the mat landing on the opponent. This move can be set up by preceding with a roundoff . WWE wrestler Apollo Crews uses this as his finishing maneuver. Jeff Cobb also uses the Move as the Gachimuchi-Sault . This moves shows a wrestler grab an opponent like
24344-557: 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
24523-434: 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
24702-410: 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,
24881-482: 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
25060-417: The opponent, and performs a moonsault while still holding on to the opponent, driving them down to the mat. This move is also known as a Solo Spanish Fly . Multiple variations exist, such as a belly-to-belly version used by Matt Sydal . This version which sees him holding the opponent in a belly-to-belly position while performing the moonsault to land on top of them in a seated senton . He calls this version
25239-542: The opponent. Instead of doing a backflip as in a normal moonsault, the attacker rotates their body off to one side diagonally and lands on the opponent chest-first, facing the turnbuckle as in a normal moonsault. Innovated by Tiger Mask I and used by Bam Bam Bigelow as the Bam Bam-Sault and Vader as the Vadersault respectively. Another variation of this move sees the attacker facing the prone opponent with
25418-838: 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
25597-583: The promotion, he defeated Shane Douglas for the ECW Heavyweight Championship . Sabu made his first successful title defense against Tazmaniac, which aired on the November 30 episode of Hardcore TV . Sabu then headlined the inaugural November to Remember event on November 13 by teaming with Road Warrior Hawk in a title versus title dream partner tag team match against Terry Funk and King Kong Bundy , with Sabu's ECW Heavyweight Championship and Funk's ECW Television Championship on
25776-536: 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
25955-532: 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
26134-413: The remainder of Taz's ECW career. Sabu would continue his rivalry with Taz by defeating him in a rematch at Wrestlepalooza . Shortly after, Sabu competed in a no-Rope barbed wire match against Terry Funk for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at Born to be Wired , a match which was promoted as being "too extreme even for ECW". In one of the most memorable moments in ECW history, Sabu attempted
26313-668: The ring and the cage with Sabu gaining the victory after leaping from the top of the cage through Storm, who was placed on top of two tables on top of each other. Next up Sabu took part in WWA European tour of November–December 2002. This included the Retribution PPV in Glasgow, which was broadcast two months later in February 2003. On this tour and PPV he fought former fellow ECW stars Perry Saturn and Simon Diamond in
26492-511: The ring for about a minute before all men got out of the ring due to the intense heat. The match ended with no winner. Sabu said in an interview that the ring burned for 19 hours. Sabu often competed in Japanese hardcore matches, where he teamed with The Sheik , Tiger Jeet Singh and Horace Boulder . Sabu feuded with the likes of Tarzan Goto and Atsushi Onita in FMW. His final match in FMW
26671-410: The rivalry. At Heat Wave , Sabu turned into a fan favorite by forming a tag team with The Tazmaniac to defeat The Pitbulls . Later that night, Sabu challenged Shane Douglas for the Heavyweight Championship, but failed to win after losing by count-out. Sabu and Tazmaniac would begin feuding with The Triple Threat (Shane Douglas, Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko ), which led to Sabu facing Benoit in
26850-406: 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
27029-441: The second rope, his feet slipped off the rope and struck the first rope below. As a result Hayabusa did not have enough height within which to execute the full 360° of the move, causing him to land head first and on his neck. He broke two vertebrae and was left quadriplegic , completely ending his career. Hayabusa was eventually able to gain some movement in his lower body, but was never able to wrestle again. The corkscrew moonsault
27208-399: 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
27387-423: The show. One memorable moment occurred at this show when Sabu appeared during a match and prepared for an aerial move off the "R" in the "RAW" lettered entryway onto Team Taz members, but accidentally fell off the "R". This was not planned which led to Sabu landing on top of Team Taz members and becoming an inside joke between him and Taz backstage. This was incorporated in ECW, as Sabu, RVD and Alfonso began promoting
27566-591: 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
27745-475: The summer of 1996, Sabu had planned on signing with the WWF . He was the original choice for The Sultan gimmick but rejected the offer when he learned that he was gonna be managed by The Iron Sheik instead of his uncle The Original Sheik and the gimmick was given to Fatu . Sabu returned to ECW at November to Remember , defeating Hack Meyers in his first match in the promotion in eight months. He would embark on
27924-417: The summer of 1998. They also defeated the Japanese team of Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki at Heat Wave . RVD and Sabu finally lost the titles to Dudley Boyz on the October 28 episode of Hardcore TV . Around the same time, RVD and Sabu joined forces with former rival Taz to feud with The Triple Threat and formed a short-lived alliance to counter the faction called New Triple Threat. The rivalry culminated in
28103-463: The team of Big Show, Test , Montel Vontavious Porter , Finlay and Umaga . Sabu eliminated Test following a Tornado DDT, but he was later eliminated by Big Show via pinfall after receiving a chokeslam. In the end, Team Cena gained victory. At December to Dismember , Sabu was originally set to appear in the main event, an Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship against Big Show, Test, Rob Van Dam, CM Punk and Bobby Lashley, but
28282-463: 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
28461-558: 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
28640-425: 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
28819-462: The titles in 1997 after the latter team won the tag team titles. They failed to win the titles from Eliminators in a standard tag team match at Crossing the Line Again and a Tables and Ladders match at CyberSlam . In the meantime, Sabu's former tag team partner Tazmaniac (who had shortened his name to "Taz") began to publicly challenge Sabu at every given opportunity, but got no response. After
28998-465: The titles to Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko, just three weeks later at Return of the Funker . Sabu would soon wrestle his last match of his first tenure in ECW on the March 28 episode of Hardcore TV by defeating Mikey Whipwreck . The following month in April, after being scheduled to compete in the main event of Three Way Dance for the World Tag Team Championship, Sabu no–showed the event to accept
29177-405: The top rope, a wrestler faces away from the supine opponent and executes a Diving backflip landing on the opponent in a splash position but facing towards the elevated position. In this moonsault, the wrestler land on a standing opponent and forcing them down to the mat. The move is considered a higher-impact version of a splash, since the wrestler utilizes rotational speed. This is a variation of
29356-647: 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
29535-536: The vacated WEW Tag Team titles. This would be the promotion last event as it went bankrupt on the 15th. Sabu competed for the World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) in a number of events during 2002 and 2003. This included four appearances on PPV and a number of memorable matches. His first appearance was at Revolution PPV in Las Vegas in February 2002. He faced Devon Storm in a hardcore match. He
29714-491: The virtues of the WWF product over ECW's. Sabu and RVD feuded with ECW loyalists Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman during this period, and were joined by Jerry Lawler from WWF. RVD and Sabu defeated Dreamer and Sandman in the first major meeting of the two teams at Orgy of Violence . After that, RVD and Sabu teamed with Lawler to take on the team of Dreamer, Sandman and Rick Rude in a steel cage match at Heat Wave . However, Rude turned on his teammates by attacking them and
29893-431: Was "taken out" and replaced by Hardcore Holly . The following episode on ECW , CM Punk and Rob Van Dam got on the mic before their match with Test and Hardcore Holly and dedicated the match to Sabu. When Punk and Van Dam won the match, Paul Heyman and his security team came out and had beaten down on the two. Sabu later made his return with a heavily wrapped arm to make the save. Sabu made his Royal Rumble match debut in
30072-502: Was a loss to the debuting Hayabusa at the 1994 Summer Spectacular . Sabu debuted in Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) in October 1993 as a villain at NWA Bloodfest by defeating The Tazmaniac . One of the most notable aspects of Sabu's early career was his refusal to speak, a gimmick that he inherited from The Sheik (who never spoke English in public to protect kayfabe ). In his early career, Sabu
30251-916: Was also on the line. He went on to face Gran Hamada in a series of matches, culminating in Sabu defeating Gran Hamada to win the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship on November 23, 1995, in the Todoroki Arena in Kawasaki . He held the championship for just over a week, losing to El Samurai on December 1, 1995, in Niigata City . Sabu made his final appearance with NJPW on December 11, 1995, in Osaka, teaming with Hiro Saito to defeat Dean Malenko and Wild Pegasus . Sabu made his WCW debut on
30430-636: 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
30609-523: Was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia , and nine Vicodin tablets following a traffic stop in Hanging Rock, Ohio following a house show in Huntington, West Virginia. Brunk was fined $ 1,000 based on the guidelines of WWE's Wellness Policy. He pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and the charge of possession of drug paraphernalia was dropped. He was given
30788-674: Was billed as being from Saudi Arabia under the ring names "Sabu the Elephant Boy" (use of "The Elephant Boy" was later dropped) and "Terry S.R." (the "S.R." standing for "Sheik's Revenge"). During the 1980s, Brunk wrestled for various independent promotions in Memphis , Michigan , Ohio , Canada , and Hawaii . He was rarely billed under his real name, in order to avoid confusion with the similarly named wrestler Terry Funk , but has wrestled under his real name in Hawaii. In 1991, Sabu made
30967-438: Was billed as being from Saudi Arabia , or Bombay , India (in real life he is a second generation Lebanese American from a suburb of Detroit ). In ECW, however, he was clearly heard speaking in the ring on several occasions and it was fairly common knowledge that Brunk was an American citizen from birth. This led to a joke at kayfabe's expense when Sabu began to be billed as hailing from "Bombay, Michigan". Brunk revealed in
31146-547: Was defeated in this match after his manager Bill Alfonso accidentally hit him with a chair after Storm moved out the way. After the match Sabu and Storm continued to fight onto the ring entrance way. Sabu placed Storm on a table and leaped from the entrance way through Storm and the table. This feud continued on the next PPV, the Eruption, in Australia in April. Sabu fought Storm in a steel cage match. The action spilled out of
31325-559: 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
31504-428: Was involved in, including participating in over two dozen no-rope barbed wire death matches. In May 1992, Sabu teamed with his uncle, the Sheik, in a "Ring of Fire Deathmatch" against Atsushi Onita and Tarzan Goto . The match was set in a ring where the ropes were replaced with barbed wire with sheets soaked in gas wrapped around it. As the match started, the ring crew lit the sheets on fire using torches. They were in
31683-490: Was normally tired before he started his match). Sabu could only be released from his bonds to wrestle his matches. Sabu also quickly became synonymous with table-breaking at this time; if a table was not broken during the match, Sabu would break a table with his own body after the bell had sounded, sometimes leading to 911 having to restrain Sabu during backstage interviews if a table was present. Sabu would quickly rise to main event status upon his debut. In his second match with
31862-431: 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
32041-415: Was released from his WWE contract. On July 13, 2007, it was announced that Sabu would be working in Mexico's AAA promotion in Mexico for their Triplemanía XV event. Sabu came out during the main event and put La Parka through a table, joining forces with the heels X-Pack , Ron "The Truth" Killings , and Konnan . Since then, he has made appearances on their major televised programs on Galavision as
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