10 Greatest IWGP Heavyweight Champions

One of New Japan’s most internationally famous legends, Keiji Mutoh held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship both as himself and as his Great Muta alter ego. His violent and colourful Muta persona captured the imaginations of fans all over the world and inspired a generation of imitators including SANADA, Satoshi Kojima, Kazushi Miyamoto and Atsushi Onita.

One of New Japan’s Three Musketeers, Mutoh won his first title as The Great Muta with a victory over Riki Choshu in August 1992. At 400 days, Muta crushed the heavyweight division. He would go on to win the title three more times with his final title run occurring in 2008 with a victory over Shinsuke Nakamura.

At a time when New Japan was still very gradually recovering from Inokism, Mutoh returned from a popular run in All Japan to reclaim the gold. Proving to be a major success for the promotion, Mutoh’s lauded final run came to an end in a Tokyo Dome classic with former student Hiroshi Tanahashi.