Keiji Muto
Sept 2, 2019 4:29:44 GMT -5
Post by elliott on Sept 2, 2019 4:29:44 GMT -5
One of the most inconsistent wrestlers of all time. Was in a ton of great matches over the course of a wildly successful career that included headlining two of the biggest shows in the history of wrestling. Yet he was incredibly inconsistent and despite all of his successes, it still feels like his career was a disappointment based on what could have been. In 1989, if you could have picked any of the "next generation" of puroresu stars to build a promotion around, the only guy who would have gone before Muto was Nobuhiko Takada. Muto would have been the choice above the other NJPW 3 Musketeers & all of the AJPW 4 Pillars. He had the most natural talent, athleticism & charisma of any of them. And really that was probably the case as late as 1992. Unfortunately, his natural gifts led to Muto coasting more than the rest of his elite peers.
I feel like a lot of people are down on the Great Muta character in terms of its effect on Muto's ring work, but I'm a little torn on that. I LOVE the Hase match and think the Liger & Shinzaki matches are fun. Of course the Sting matches are really good and super memorable and one of the feuds that made me a fan for life as a youngster. I also used to really love the Flair/Sting vs Funk/Muta cluster fuck o'rama cage match from 89, but its been over 20 years since I watched that. Anyway, I enjoyed the character and its really one of the more memorable & interesting characters in wrestling history.
Outside of the 92 Hase match, Muto's top tier stuff was as Muto, not Muta. The 91 G1 Climax Final is the best NJPW heavies match of the 90s. His 95 Final against Hash, 91 match against Vader and 92 Hase bloodbath are strong contenders for top NJPW 90s matches. He also has a number of really good tag matches usually teaming with Hase. His 2001 career renaissance was polarizing at the time, especially the Kawada matches which some loved while others hated. I haven't watched those since they happened. But the Tenryu match was outstanding and still holds up.
I know some people focus just on peak, and peak Muto was really great.
I feel like a lot of people are down on the Great Muta character in terms of its effect on Muto's ring work, but I'm a little torn on that. I LOVE the Hase match and think the Liger & Shinzaki matches are fun. Of course the Sting matches are really good and super memorable and one of the feuds that made me a fan for life as a youngster. I also used to really love the Flair/Sting vs Funk/Muta cluster fuck o'rama cage match from 89, but its been over 20 years since I watched that. Anyway, I enjoyed the character and its really one of the more memorable & interesting characters in wrestling history.
Outside of the 92 Hase match, Muto's top tier stuff was as Muto, not Muta. The 91 G1 Climax Final is the best NJPW heavies match of the 90s. His 95 Final against Hash, 91 match against Vader and 92 Hase bloodbath are strong contenders for top NJPW 90s matches. He also has a number of really good tag matches usually teaming with Hase. His 2001 career renaissance was polarizing at the time, especially the Kawada matches which some loved while others hated. I haven't watched those since they happened. But the Tenryu match was outstanding and still holds up.
I know some people focus just on peak, and peak Muto was really great.
