The Great Muta is Returning to the United States to Wrestle
There is an entirely new reason to look forward to 2018: The Great Muta is returning to wrestle in the United States.
The legendary Muta will be teaming with Penta El Zero M against John Hennigan and Sami Callihan for California-based PCW ULTRA. The promotion is celebrating its second anniversary with a show in Wilmington, California on Friday, January 19, and Muta’s arrival adds a crown jewel of wrestling royalty atop the card.
“The Great Muta is arguably the greatest Japanese wrestler of all-time,” said PCW ULTRA owner Mike Scharnagl. “Each time we have an event, our goal is to make it better than our prior event. With January 19 being our second anniversary show, we wanted to present the fans something truly special. It doesn’t get more special than the Great Muta.”
WWE Hall of Famer and fellow Japanese wrestling legend Stan Hansen appeared at last night’s PCW ULTRA Refuse to Lose show, and he shared the significance of Muta’s return to the States.
“It’s a big deal for ULTRA to get Muta,” said Hansen. “There have been a handful of great wrestling stars from Japan, like [Giant] Baba, Jumbo [Tsuruta], and [Genichiro] Tenryu, but Muta has now reached the top.”
Hansen noted that he only wrestled Muta twice in New Japan Pro Wrestling near the beginning of Muta’s career, but followed his career arch very closely.
”The people will really enjoy Muta,” said Hansen. “He has a unique style, so they’ll be very happy when they see him here.”
The “Task Master” Kevin Sullivan helped broker the Muta deal for PCW ULTRA, which was especially apropos considering Sullivan first helped bring Muta to the United States in 1985.
“I became the booker in Florida, and Hiro Matsuda, who was from New Japan, owned part of the Florida office,” said Sullivan. “They wanted to send Muta to the United States, so they sent him to me because of Hiro’s connection.”
Sullivan joked that it was his brilliant creativity that came up with Muta’s first name in the US: the White Ninja.
“That was like calling Gone with the Wind something like The Burning of Atlanta,” said Sullivan. “I was also booking when Muta came to WCW, and he is a special, once-in-generation star. This might be his last time to the United States, and I’m excited to see him perform again.”
Muta will also be holding a pro wrestling training seminar on January 20 at the Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy in Bell Gardens, California, a day after the PCW ULTRA show.
“Muta transformed what the United States believed was the Japanese wrestling style,” said Sullivan. “Before that, the Japanese wrestling style was mostly holds and the ground game, but Muta was a high-flyer and, with his Japanese outfits, mask, and facepaint, the first colorful character from Japan. The fans here are going to love him.”
