New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1984–1988) (left) and manager
Oliver Humperdink (center), circa 1986Muto 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 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 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.
Capitol Sports Promotions (1988) 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 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.
World Class Championship Wrestling (1988–1989) In the fall of 1988, Muto moved to the Dallas, Texas-based
World Class Championship Wrestling under the name Super Black Ninja, where he reunited with Kendo Nagasaki and had a
feud with
Kevin Von Erich before departing 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).
World Championship Wrestling (1989–1990) 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 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.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1990–2002) Rise to prominence (1990–1992) 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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 the quarterfinals on August 10, before losing to the eventual winner Masahiro Chono in the semi-finals on August 11.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion (1992–1996) 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
nWo Japan (1996–2000) The latter half of 1996 had Muto pitted against Masahiro Chono's Ookami Gundan, which eventually blossomed into 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 the dissolution of nWo Japan as it merged into Chono's Team 2000.
Bad Ass Translate Trading (2001–2002) 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 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, 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). Muto and Kea would win that year's
Real World Tag League by defeating
Mitsuya Nagai and Toshiaki Kawada in 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 the IWGP Tag Team Championship on February 2.
World Championship Wrestling (1990–1995, 2000) Sporadic appearances (1990–1995) 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 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 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 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 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 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: A Legends' Reunion.
Dark Carnival (2000) 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 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 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 the
World Wrestling Federation.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (2001–2013) Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion (2001–2003) 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 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 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 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 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 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 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. 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 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 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 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.
Final years and departure (2011–2013) 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 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 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 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.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling 2004–2005 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 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.
2007–2009 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 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 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. A year later at
Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome, Muto teamed with Shinjiro Otani, a replacement for an injured
Daichi Hashimoto, in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima. Muto returned to New Japan again a year later at
Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, now working as The Great Muta in a tag team match, where he and
Toru Yano defeated
Suzuki-gun (
Minoru Suzuki and
Shelton X Benjamin). As the only face in the match, Muta turned on Yano towards the end of the match, but his green mist accidentally hit Suzuki instead, leading to Yano pinning him for the win.
2019–2023 Muto, in his Great Muta persona, was the last entrant in the
Honor Rumble at the
G1 Supercard Show on April 6, 2019. This marked his first appearance for the promotion in 5 years. On February 19, 2020, Muto made an appearance at the
Tiger Hattori Retirement Show, appearing alongside fellow NJPW alumni
Riki Choshu,
The Great Kabuki, and
Hiroshi Hase. On January 8, 2022, at
Wrestle Kingdom 16, Muto teamed with
Kaito Kiyomiya in a losing effort against
Kazuchika Okada and
Hiroshi Tanahashi during the event's main event match. On November 20, Muto, in his Great Muta persona, competed in his penultimate NJPW match at the
Historic X-Over event. At the event, Muta teamed with
Chaos (
Kazuchika Okada and
Toru Yano) to defeat
United Empire (
Great-O-Khan,
Jeff Cobb, and
Aaron Henare). On January 4, 2023, at
Wrestle Kingdom 17 night 1, Muto competed in his final NJPW match, teaming with Hiroshi Tanahashi and
Shota Umino to defeat
Los Ingobernables de Japon (
Tetsuya Naito,
Sanada and
Bushi). Muto appeared at night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom 17, challenging Naito to a retirement match as part of Noah's
Keiji Muto Grand Final Pro-Wrestling "Last-Love" event.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007, 2009) In 2007, while Muto was in
Orlando, Florida, in order to establish a working agreement between All Japan and
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), he made an appearance for the company, under his Great Muta gimmick, at the
Destination X pay-per-view, in a segment with
Christian Cage. In February 2009 Muto was featured in multiple interview segments, taped in Japan, where he spoke of his student
Akira Raijin, who had just begun working for TNA.
Wrestle-1 (2013–2020) On July 10, 2013, Muto announced the foundation of a promotion named
Wrestle-1, bringing over many of the former wrestlers of All Japan Pro-Wrestling that left in June. At the promotion's
inaugural event on September 8, Muto teamed with
Bob Sapp in a main event tag team match, where they defeated
René Duprée and
Zodiac. During Wrestle-1's secondshow on September 15, Muto made his first Japanese appearance as The Great Muta in two years, when he and
Tajiri defeated Duprée and Zodiac in a tag team match. On October 18, Muto announced his semi-retirement, saying that in the future he would only work Wrestle-1's larger events. On March 2, 2014, Muto put his career on the line at
Kaisen: Outbreak, Wrestle-1's first event in
Ryōgoku Kokugikan. Muto teamed with
Rob Terry and the debuting Taiyō Kea in a six-man tag team match, where they defeated Masayuki Kono, René Duprée and
Samoa Joe, thus saving his career. Through Wrestle-1's working relationship with TNA, Muto, working under his Great Muta persona, returned to the American promotion on March 9 at
Lockdown, where he, Sanada and Yasu defeated
Chris Sabin,
Christopher Daniels and
Kazarian in a six-man tag team
steel cage match. On October 12, Muto, as the Great Muta, worked TNA's
Bound for Glory event in Tokyo, teaming with Tajiri in a tag team main event, where they defeated
James Storm and The Great Sanada. He made his first successful title defense on December 22 against Seiya Sanada. His second defense took place on January 30, 2015, when he defeated
Manabu Soya. On February 16, Muto, as the Great Muta, returned to TNA, defeating
Mr. Anderson as part of
Global Impact: USA vs The World. On March 8, Muto lost the Wrestle-1 Championship to Kai in his third defense. On March 27, 2017, Muto announced he was stepping down as the president of Wrestle-1 with Kaz Hayashi taking over the position. Muto remained with the promotion as its representative director. On June 8, 2019, Muto returned to
Impact Wrestling, wrestling as The Great Muta in the main event of their
A Night You Can't Mist event in a tag team match where he teamed with
Tommy Dreamer to defeat
Michael Elgin and
Johnny Impact. On April 1, 2020, at Wrestle-1's final event, Muto team with Kaz Hayashi,
Masayuki Kono, and
Shuji Kondo unsuccessfully against Kuma Arashi,
Shotaro Ashino,
Daiki Inaba, and Koji Doi.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2014–2015, 2019) On March 2, 2014, at
TNA Global Impact Japan, Muto, under his Great Muta persona, teamed with
Rob Terry and
Taiyō Kea to defeat
Masayuki Kono,
René Duprée and
Samoa Joe in a six-man tag team match. Later in March, through Wrestle-1's working relationship with
TNA, Muto, working under his Great Muta persona, returned to America, at
Lockdown, where he, Sanada and Yasu defeated
Chris Sabin,
Christopher Daniels and
Kazarian in a six-man tag team
steel cage match. Muta returned to TNA on the July 25, 2014, defeating
Robbie E at an
Impact Wrestling taping in New York City. After the match, Sanada turned on Muta. This led to a match at Wrestle-1's Shōgeki: Impact event on July 6, where The Great Muta defeated Sanada in a main event singles match. On October 12, the blow-off of the Muta-Sanada feud occurred at
Bound for Glory in Tokyo, where Muta teamed with Tajiri in a tag team main event to defeat
James Storm and The Great Sanada. On February 16, 2015, Muto, as the Great Muta, returned to TNA, defeating
Mr. Anderson as part of
Global Impact – USA vs. The World. On June 8, 2019, Muto returned to TNA, now renamed Impact Wrestling, wrestling as The Great Muta in the main event of their
A Night You Can't Mist event in a tag team match where he teamed with
Tommy Dreamer to defeat
Michael Elgin and
Johnny Impact.
All Elite Wrestling (2019, 2022) On November 9, 2019, Muto made a surprise special appearance at
All Elite Wrestling's
Full Gear as one of the judges for the
AEW World Championship match, in the event of a draw. On September 23, 2022, he made a surprise appearance at
AEW Rampage: Grand Slam, saving
Sting from
The House of Black.
Pro Wrestling Noah (2020–2023) On February 12, 2021, Muto successfully won the
GHC Heavyweight Championship in a match against
Go Shiozaki at
Pro Wrestling Noah's Destination 2021 event in
Nippon Budokan. On March 14, he made his first successful title defense, defeating
Kaito Kiyomiya at the Noah: Great Voyage 2021. He made another successful defense against Masa Kitamiya on April 29 at Noah: The Glory 2021. On June 6, at
CyberFight Festival, Muto lost the title to
Naomichi Marufuji. On June 12, 2022, at
CyberFight Festival 2022, Muto announced his intention to retire from professional wrestling in 2023. On October 30, it was announced that
Shinsuke Nakamura (while still under a
WWE contract) would be Muto's opponent for the
Noah The New Year show on January 1, 2023. At the event, Nakamura defeated Muto, who was wrestling under his Great Muta persona. On January 22, 2023, at
The Great Muta Final "Bye-Bye", Muto wrestled his last match under his Great Muta persona, teaming with
Sting and
Darby Allin to defeat
Hakushi,
Akira and
Naomichi Marufuji. On February 21, Muto wrestled the final full match of his professional wrestling career, losing to
Tetsuya Naito at the
Keiji Muto Grand Final Pro-Wrestling "Last-Love" event. After the match Muto challenged Masahiro Chono, who was on commentary for the match with Naito and hadn't wrestled a match in 9 years, to an impromptu final match, which Chono won by submission, the opposite result from their common debut nearly 39 years before. On March 15, 2023, The Great Muta was announced as the second individual inductee for the
WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2023. ==Professional wrestling style and persona==