The Keiji Mutoh Experience
(Thank you Ring of Honor)

It is the analogy. I can't compare it to anything else, not nature, not a circumstance, nothing, because it is the analogy. Keiji Mutoh, billed as the Great Muta, otherwise known to the wrestling world as God, had once again returned to U.S. soil and for the first time dazzled his wizardry on an independent promotion. Rightfully so, that promotion was Ring of Honor. A company that brought many of us footage of this monumental grappler we may not have had access to otherwise, especially not as easily and convenient. Also, a company, a promotion, that from the start decided to be head and shoulders above any other company that was just 'starting out'. ROH was more than a promotion starting out, it was an experiment when it started, and every new day at the lab seems a success, with the greatest Honor to date coming with the grace of Keiji Mutoh.

I wasn't there when Jimi Hendrix played Woodstock. I wasn't there when the Berlin Wall came down. And I wasn't there Roy Hobbs hit that homerun in the final scene of the Natural, but I was there on the 27th of December in the year 2003, when Keiji Mutoh debuted in Ring of Honor. That was my experience, this was that experience. A great performer makes you feel that you are the only one in a packed arena, that he's doing this performance for you, but a godly performer makes you think that while realizing everyone else in that room he is performing for is part of this new special family that you can't remember the performance without…and Keiji Mutoh did that. He demands your attention at all times.

Footwork. It's something that counts inside a wrestling ring just as equally as your breath. Footwork can alone crown Mutoh as not only is his footwork precise, but he originated this amazing footwork that suits his characters to a tee. The concentration needed for his symbolic movements must be unparallel, as is his execution of it. His footwork doesn't end in the ring and his signature movements don't end with his legs. The footwork is his character, from the moment he becomes that character, down the aisle and I'm sure in the back. His shoulders, his hands, his fingers; the rubbing of his head, the look he gives to the crowd without even seeing his eyes. That's Muta, that's Mutoh! I heard people snickering, "what's he doing?" when Muta was out on the corner with his legs over the ropes (his attempt to sell the art of distracting the referee as his partner was being double teamed). I was grinning with more of the theory of 'Wow. That's Muta' Maybe, no matter what he did I would have said that, but I have the right to, because the character of Great Muta has no boundaries. Check out some of his career matches. Muta vs. Hase in the bloodbath. Muta vs Liger where he ripped of Liger's mask and showed a demon-like character beneath it. When Keiji Mutoh was in a tag match and left to return as the Great Muta where he went on a path of rage in NJPW. Hell, check out RFVideo.com to see what I'm talking about! This guy is the perfect character, and the rubbing of his head, the sprawling on the ropes, it's all Muta. Another thing that this says about him is that even when he's outside on the corner, people are watching him, every move. That's what this superior race of wrestler is all about.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this will return to me with shades of the forbidden wrestling language that is equivilent to the word, hell, there is no English word for mark, and I would have to agree. Not often, however, does one get the chance to right about such instances. I couldn't just write about Keiji Mutoh, this master in disguise that is most recognizable. I was graced with such fortune to witness and appreciate such a sight in live action. My New Year's resolution for the past twenty years came true at the end of 2003. Now, I suppose, I'll have to start with the second part Team NOAH!

Well everybody, you're right from your side, I'm right from mine, and the indies got to see Keiji Mutoh! ::Spitting Mist::

Wizard