The Great Muta and KENSO vs. Akebono and Ryota Hama
Despite being so big that the size of their lunch would make most men cower in fear, the Super Megaton Ohzumo Powers (SMOP) aka Akebono and Ryota Hama have their work cut out for them going against The Great Muta. Oddly enough Muta wears a mask that is from an animal nearly the size of Akebono.
The match quality is all over the place in this one. Muta hits a shinning wizard seconds into the contest on Akebono, which Akebono shakes off. KENSO, who is hardly a ring technician, uses an offense that consists of mostly slapping Ryota Hama in the face. Not that, that is necessarily a bad thing considering the way that Hama sells them it makes this bout more entertaining than around 95 percent of KENSO’s matches.
All the best action happens in about the last minute of the match. Prior to that the clip is mostly a lot of slow moving by SMOP and a lot of smacking by KENSO (again not necessarily bad). Hama hits a running stink face on Muta and a big splash, but Muta just manages to kick out. Muta then attempts to spray Hama with some mist, but Hama has it scouted and is wearing goggles. KENSO snatches Hama’s goggles and delivers a not necessarily bad slap to Hama’s face. Muta finishes it all with some mist followed by a shinning wizard to bookend it.
NWA On Fire is one of the hotter NWA promotions out there (moderate wordplay intended) and that is at least partly because of the variety of emerging talent they showcase. From Buzz Bloodsaw to these two upstarts.
At first glance Kai Katana could be waved off as a ripoff of The Great Muta. However, like I’ve discussed before waving off a young wrestler because they are a ripoff, especially a ripoff of The Great Muta, is silly.
Instead if we look beneath the surface then there is some good stuff to be found. Kai opens the bout with a kick to VSK’s gut that establishes him at least slightly as a heel. VSK plays off of this by doing some crowd pleasing high spots such as his crossbody over the top rope. He also hits a running European uppercut that would make Antonio Cesaro proud. Of course, before the bout is over Katana delivers some classic Muta moves including the shinning wizard and a moonsault attempt. This sets up the finish of the fight, which is VSK putting Katana in a fireman’s carry position then double kneeing him in the stomach. Having his opponent get the wind sucked out of him is not enough for VSK so he finishes him off with a super kick.
While nitpicking fans may complain about details like Katana overselling a bit and there being little psychology behind the action these guys are certainly worth watching again.
I dislike straying too far from the topic of wrestling on this blog, but Nemo is absolutely laying the smack down on the American Northeast aka the area that includes the headquarters of The Johnson Transcript. Just take a look at an actual picture of my car that I took today:
Despite what the picture shows I’m actually not set up in a log cabin. The car is parked on a suburban street in Quincy, Massachusetts just south of Boston.
Anyway, that is probably not what you came here to read about. If you’re experiencing snowstorm Nemo there’s probably more practical places you can go for news than a humble wrestling blog and if you’re not experiencing this snowstorm then maybe you just came here to read about wrestling so I won’t disappoint! I just wanted to mention this snowstorm in case the updates get postponed in the near future. Either I lost power again or more likely The Yeti got me (and hopefully it’s not Ron Reis!).
I decided to post this clip as it is one that I’ve been meaning to get to for a long time, but wanted to save it for a special occasion. Since my power might go out at any moment and leave me without Internet for goodness knows how long…well, I’d say that’s special.
Getting to the actual match…The Great Muta has the reputation he does for a few reasons. Longevity plays a part in it as does the uniqueness of his gimmick. Yet, for me what makes Muta stand out more than anything is the overall package. Even when Muta isn’t stripping his face paint off and wrestling as Keiji Mutoh he can do it all from technical wrestling to high-flying to brawling. This last category has the most significance as it relates to this match.
While Muta is a skilled brawler, Yoshihiro Takayama is nothing to scoff at. The guy is not just legitimately tough, but may in fact be legitimately insane as well. Just check out the chair shot to the face he takes near the beginning of this match. Did I mention this bout took place in 2009? Yes, Takayama knew all the dangers that an unprotected chair shot could have, but he gladly took one anyway? Still, this bout is not a backyard affair and the two do more than put their bodies on the line. Both manage to pack some psychology into this less than fifteen minute bout. At times the psychology looks to be nothing more than who can get more blood out of the others’ forehead, but it is psychology nonetheless.
So if you’re reading this during Nemo stay warm, eat something warm and enjoy two of the best Japan has to offer fight for the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. If you’re reading this after the fact than just enjoy the clip!
One criticism I’ve been seeing around a lot online of current NWA World Heavyweight Champion Kahagas is that he is a rip-off of The Great Muta. While there are plenty of reasons to attack the current incarnation of the NWA this one just leaves me scratching my head. Plenty of wrestlers have been influenced by Muta without facing as much criticism. One wrestler in particular, Hate is featured in the above clip.
As for the match quality of this bout it is an odd pairing to say the least. Hate flips off the audience to get some heat, but as soon as he goes after Araya (who in that yellow singlet looks reminiscent of a Peep) it is obvious Araya isn’t going to sell a lot for his much smaller opponent. Hate draws more from Muta and continues with his heel tactics eventually bringing in a fire extinguisher. Hate fails to use it the first time and Araya performs the move of the match shortly later with a Vader moonsault. I call it a Vader moonsault because it is obvious that whenever these guys try that move there is no way they are going to hit it. Otherwise there would be a Muta inspired pancake to scrape off the mat. Hate closes things out by throwing the fire extinguisher at Araya’s face which is apparently legal in Japan.
To get back to the initial point let’s play devil’s advocate and say Kahagas, Hate and other wrestlers are just ripping off Muta. Isn’t it more fun to have a bunch of Muta clones than generic guys wrestling in black tights?
Since debuting last year Shinya Hashimoto’s son, Daichi has taken on some of the best talent competing in Japan today. Of course, any group considered “the best talent competing in Japan today” would have to include Keiji Muto…or The Great Muta. Whichever one does it for you.
Mutoh takes Daichi down at the start and dominates him with some mat wrestling until Daichi catches him with a series of six kicks. Mutoh captures his young adversary with a dragon screw and locks on his first leg submission. For the rest of the match he will be pouncing on that leg over and over again.
Daichi fights back by scoring some strikes and nailing a bodyslam before busting out some submissions of his own. Like Mutoh he goes after the lower half. Daichi puts Mutoh in a single leg Boston crab then modifies it into an STF. Mutoh escapes and Daichi goes back to some striking which gets kind of lame and Mutoh looks like he is just going through the motions by letting Daichi hit him.
The bout picks back up when Daichi manages to block a shinning wizard and then hits Mutoh with one of his own! Daichi hits a solid dropkick from off the top, but then gets caught with another dragon screw and Mutoh hits a shinning wizard. From there it is just a matter of time before Mutoh wins because the veteran really starts laying in some punishment. Mutoh delivers a low-angle dropkick, another shinning wizard, a rib breaker and a moonsault before covering the youngster.
After the match Mutoh gives a promo. I’m not fluent in Japanese, but I think he says something like, “The Johnson Transcript is a great website and you should be honored to appear on it!”
Keiji Mutoh has lived an interesting life. Most famously he took on the role of The Great Muta. Less famously he took on the role of Kokushi-Muso. Yet, even less famously than Kokushi-Muso he portrayed Super Black Ninja. Mutoh worked this gimmick during his stints in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and as seen here in WWC. Although Mutoh is most known for his viciousness on an island nation in a different ocean than Puerto Rico, Super Black Ninja is pretty aggressive in the Caribbean.
Super Black Ninja comes at his opponent so fiercely to start the bout out that the action cannot possibly be contained in the ring. After brutalizing this poor kid on the outside the ninja gets him back between the ropes. There, Mutoh seemingly takes on yet another gimmick when he pulls some George “The Animal” Steele stuff out and just starts gnawing on his foe. Jobber Chris Jones barely gets in any offense except for a little mat work. The only luck Jones has is that this is not technically Muta so he doesn’t have to take any mist to the face. However, Super Black Ninja hits Muta’s moonsault and it is lights out for Jones.
Unfortunately, the gimmick didn’t have any legs and quietly retired managing to avoid becoming the title for the most awesome blaxploitation film ever.
Time can be weird in wrestling. For instance, if you look at Yoshihiro Tajiri in this match he doesn’t look that much different from when he last regularly appeared in the largest wrestling promotion in the world, WWE. If anything he has probably improved because he has been able to tap into his full potential by not being restricted in the ring or to a comedy character. Partnering with The Great Muta against Suwama and Kai, Tajiri shows just how technical he can be with the mat wrestling he uses throughout the match (though by the end it pretty much disappears).
All this technical stuff starts with an odd move when Tajiri takes down Kai and grabs his leg. Kai just sits there while Tajiri sticks his butt in his face. Now go to your local bus station and try this out on the first guy you see. You’d be surprised with the results (I know I was). Still, the funniest part of the bout has to be when the Tajiri distracts the ref and Muta goes to town on Suwama with a chair. Its nice to see that wrestling refs in Japan require the same experience that refs in the United States do namely a serious blow to the head and an addiction to sniffing glue. Yet, Suwama out-dumbs the ref when he wrestles the chair away from Muta only for Muta to convince Suwama not to whack him with it. Suwama then is immediately attacked by the master of the mist with an eye rake. He deserves to lose!
Getting back to the subject of time it works differently for different wrestlers. While Tajiri may look more or less the same some wrestlers jump up the wrestling ladder in a blink. Take for instance Kazuchika Okada. One minute he is waiting in a Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) ring for Samoa Joe to kill him.
If pictures like this and this are any indication then The Great Muta and Goldust should be two of the most popular costumes for tonight’s festivities. Perhaps even more unusual than our continuing tradition of having young children go to the houses of strangers at night and ask for candy is that Muta and Goldust have actually wrestled before. It occurred in a tag team match for AJPW. On one side the team of Muta and Yoshihiro Tajiri made sense given their fondness for mist. However, their opponents are a puzzling combination. The best reasoning I can come up with is that Goldust and Hakushi aka Jinsei Shinzaki ended up in the same prison and Goldust was traded to Hakushi by the prison alpha male for a pack of Marlboro reds.
On a random note Goldust is actually called Goldustin here as opposed to Goldust or as Japanese announcers would say Goldustooooo.
Anyway, Dustin Rhodes must have feared that his homosexual gestures would get lost in translation because he turns the volume way up on them. Somehow in Japan this is possible without anyone having to take off their pants. Unfortunately for Goldust this proves to be his doom because after trying to kiss the admittedly lovable Muta he gets not one, but two eyefuls of mist and eats the shinning wizard (the move that is).
I posted an interview with a guy named Lyder this week so I figured today would be as good a time as any to post another Jushin “Thunder” Liger match. You have to respect the rhyme scheme. In half seriousness I actually decided to post this one because I thought it would remind me of the recent Muta match I posted. After all if Muta can toy around with Zodiac like a big cat playing with a mouse then surely a guy who gets his name from a big cat could do the same with Ebessan, a comedy wrestler.
Instead Liger sells a ton for Ebessan and it turns the encounter from simply a novelty match to being a fun and engaging contest. Heck, at one point Ebessan nearly hits a top rope moonsault and later he even succeeds in nailing a 360 corkscrew senton. Before the show is over Ebessan gets three super close two counts and even kicks out of a Liger bomb! After this Liger bomb though Tom has had enough of Jerry and signals for the end. Liger finishes him off with a brainbuster.
While the bout may seem odd on the surface there have certainly been weirder matchups:
The Great Muta looks like a big tired cat lazily toying with a mouse in this match from AJPW B-Banquet. To start off he shows some aggression by spitting green mist in the air, pointing at his opponent, Zodiac then making a gesture where he slits his throat before giving him the old bras d’honneur.
Aside from opening taunts and some random/awesome spurts of aggression Muta spends a lot of the match messing with the audience and motorboating the air. Muta’s first big offense comes when he uses a spray can on Zodiac’s face and chokes him with a cable outside the ring. The two go back inside and Muta spits some red mist in his opponent’s face and follows it up with a flashing elbow. Muta does not channel the technical skills of Keiji Mutoh for long because they are soon back out on the floor. Muta bounces Zodiac off of a table, hits him with a ring bell then tosses him into the audience and attacks him with a chair. Zodiac must have watched some Shawn Michaels’ footage with the way he is bumping around! Muta only stops using weapons when he decides it would be better to literally eat Zodiac’s face.
The face eating doesn’t last long and in a few minutes Muta eats a victory instead after spitting some green mist and hitting the shinning wizard.
It is not too bad, but next time if I want to see a sleepy cat I have my options.
