18-3-1989:The Great Muta's NWA/WCW debut

[MrRoyalnash]

the great muta is one of the best. the green stuff he blows is really dope

[Selya92]

Great Muta the BEST!!!

[MANABUR]

Muta replaced Tanru !!

[speedbuggy]

This was when World Championship Wrestling was the name of the program on Saturday nights, not the name of the wrestling organization.

[YanksR5]

going back 1989

Favorite Announcers: Jim Ross, Gordon Solie, Magum TA & Bob Caudle

Favorite Arenas: Omni Coliseum in Atlanta

Favorite Matches: Sting vs. Ric Flair (Starrcade 89 in Iron Man tournament)

Favorite Referee: Tommy Young

Favorite Tag Team Wrestlers: The Road Warriors

Favorite Wrestlers: Sting

[sukebechan36]

Greatest moment in the history of the NWA!

[Kenro200x]

Incredible vid! Thank you so much!

[thefaceofdeath]

@TheAvalanchewarning Muta kills Sin Cara...no question

[MikeyMikeisMe]

@thefaceofdeath If Sin Cara can see Muta, Muta can see Sin Cara. If Sin Cara can't see Muta, Sin Cara may have already experienced DbM (Death by Muta!) LOL

[jahyazzy]

If Hart did not pass I can just imagine Undertaker cutting a promo and Hart interupting him to bring in Muta for Taker's last Wrestlemania match!!!!!!!

[raiders75]

Muta has his best years in the NWA in the late 80's and early 90's. I still love watching his matches from that time. And to have a great manager like the late Gary Hart, he should have been the world's champion then.

[DarkGuitarKid]

Asians in USA is always discriminated and laughed at.

[FoieGras]

"The Yen is number 1. The Dollar is number 2." ROFL- Mr. Hart, you crazy

[EddieTCNJ]

Cougar Jay takes a GREAT fall to the floor at 3:18. Underappreciated.

[jdmitchell2]

Seems like Muta was always a bit of a joke here in the states.

[panther2552]

@jdmitchell2 nah that stopped once we saw him in the ring.Keiji Mutoh is/was as good as it gets in the business. I'll never forget the fact that my Grandfather a WWII vet, was never able to let go of his anger towards the Japanese till Muta came to the NWA/WCW

[jdmitchell2]

@panther2552

To a certain extent. When I see the reception here in the states, it doesn't seem to be quite the same as in Japan. Maybe it's the culture, but the US fans never seem to react the same way. I can understand your Grandfather's anger.

[Slacker4LiFe247]

@killedbyseth I see you put ''usually''but Muta was over in the states. Watch is match with him vs Sting at GAB 89. Back in the days when fans like who they liked didn't matter if he was a face or a heel. You hear muta chants, plus cheering for Muta when he yanked the TV title from the ref over a controversial finish.

[intenttoinjure]

the good old days when wrestling was awesome

[MrExtremeRulz]

Ted Turner was good. it was when they hired other consultants that made it bad.

[HEATofEAST92]

THAT'S THE WAY YOU PUT OVER A FUCKING CHRACTER.

Btw it's weird when you watch old promos before the Austin era and fans don't shout "what?" when an asian dude which accent doesn't apply well to the english language is speaking.

[HEATofEAST92]

its weird not hearing the fans shouting "what" when a foreign dude that can't speak english that well is speaking.

[largest85]

i was 1 years old at this time 3-18-89 i wish i was older to watch Great Muta back then.

[RegaLPleX08]

Muta is a legend. He should've wen't to New York tho...ha ha ha

[dasteelers75]

Two great legends on screen in rip Gary Hart and the badass Great Muta. A match made in heaven.

[thefaceofdeath]

@dasteelers75 3 legends....Matsuda was a legend in Japan under his real name of Yasuhiro Kojima. He didnt get alot of exposure in the US except as the short term manager of Ric Flair, Barry Windham. He is best known for training Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Lex Luger, Ron Simmons, and Keiji Mutoh (Muta).

[HollywoodKendrick]

He did the flashing elbow on his debut? WOW.

[MegaHardcore76]

I miss the good ole wrestling days. wrestling sucks now. There is nothing left for the new school wrestlers to do that hasn't already been done. Mixed martial arts is whats up now.

[SpectacularSunset]

This is wrestling at its finest!

[funkiersnoog]

"The Great Mota"? Bwa ha ha!!!! Fucking WCW was just full of screw ups huh? lol

[MikeyMikeisMe]

@funkiersnoog Muta's last name is actually Mutoh, pronounced like "Muh-tow," which is basically what Hart said. Also, this wasn't the same WCW screw-up organization of the Hogan years. This was pre-Ted Turner days, way before NWO, way before any of a number of countless idiotic moves (especially ones made around late 98 through 2000). This was when WCW was part of the NWA, was much smaller and regionalized, but easily had the better wrestling action.

[chrischar1969]

@MikeyMikeisMe There wasnt much NWA left by this time

[bigpoppanard]

@chrischar1969 there were PLENTY of NWA promotions in 1989, World Championship Wrestling/Jim Crockett at that time was the most powerful & visible member on a "national" scale. You also still had NWA promotions like AJPW & NJPW in Japan, PNW in Portland, EMLL in Mexico, O'Day Promotion in Austrailia & New Zealand, and the WWC promotion in the Puerto Rico who didnt leave the NWA officially until 1990 but alot of the other NWA promotions disassociated with Colon after Bruiser Brody's murder in 88.

[dontmesafrusciante]

@MikeyMikeisMe yep the good ol days,,you said it well

[OldSchoolRasslin]

@MikeyMikeisMe

Turner bought the company in 1988. This was 1989.

[MikeyMikeisMe]

@OldSchoolRasslin I stand corrected on that point. Thanks for the clarification.

[leeeleveneleven]

i like the flip into the ring...muta was the shit

[eslubin]

@mrach198 lol storyline

[eslubin]

"Most people only know kung fu... he knows them all" The great Gary Hart y'all

[21richkid]

Great Muta debut in NWA/WCW and 1989 was the year the Japanese wrestler made an impact. 3 years later, Yokozuna made a simmilar impact by winning the World Wrestling Federation Championship at Wrestlemania 9. Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Undertaker, Tatanka, Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger fell victim to the Banzai Drop. 2 Land of the Rising Sun wrestlers of all time, should be in the WWE Hall of Fame.

[funkiersnoog]

@21richkid Yokozuna was Samoan, but I agree with you in that both men should be in the WWE Hall of Fame.

[mrtrin]

The great typo.

Mota.  Lulz.

[MagicKirin]

If there is one area the WWE has fallen flat is getting tops stars from Japan

[danesesse]

@MagicKirin Without managers they don't get over.

[JKTube]

@danesesse: What about Masato Tanaka and Yoshihiro Tajiri in ECW?

@MikeyMikeisMe: Jim Crockett sold his promotion to Ted Turner in November 1988.

[danesesse]

@JKTube Tanaka did get over but with the ecw internet crowd, it would be intresting if wwe could have made a 'star' star. With such emphasis on talking and not in ring work. Tajiri is probably a better bet actually in the same way mexican flyers can get over. However I was just saying what wwe thinks and the general rule. I mean in a place where in ring work has never been allowed to get people over on its own. Benoit might be a tiny exception.

[kodeetheregulator]

wow i honestly feel sorry for this poor ham n egger. all hail muta.

[bigpaulie68]

Gary Hart is the Man. Loved Muta in WCW. They could have played this up even more. Obviously Hart was trying. Would have loved Muta being the Road Warriors six man partner when they were heels and Animal beat Dusty so they could pick a new partner. Wish they would have brought him in then versus Tenryu. At that time they pushed the idea that the LOD didn't trust any Americans. Plus you had the whole face paint thing.

[BigLSexo2]

Muta has always been one of the most consistant workers in the world huge fan. As good as he is though Gary Hart made him scary as all hell

[draconian45]

Muta is awesome

[cdwest82]

Muta looks like an asian smurf

[Phoenix7786]

Wow his facepaint has come a long way since then :p

However it is very cool to see the takedown -->Flashing elbow existed this early.

[Thewwekiller]

Great Muta for HoF

[dsheffiel82]

@Thewwekiller agree

[jerryreiner]

Muta rules.