10 Wrestlers Who Ruined Their Bodies For The Business

8. Keiji Mutoh

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Twitter/@W_UNIVERSE2020

Nobody needs to tell Japanese icon Keiji Mutoh about knackered knees. His knee problems properly began towards the tail end of the 1990s, and he was forced to have reconstructive surgery following years of blasting fools with the Shining Wizard or his trusty moonsault.

That latter move, by the way, was one Mutoh had to retire towards the end of his active career. It was impossible to perform safely, and nobody enjoyed seeing The Great Muta visibly struggle to stay upright after attempting to deliver it. He was doing way more damage to himself there, and it was totally unnecessary.

Enough was enough; Keiji's knees just couldn't take it anymore.

It's incredible that Mutoh can walk at all, being honest. He was there when puro exploded, and worked countless sensational matches that had everyone who witnessed them simultaneously satisfied yet somehow starving for more. The guy was that good in-ring, but his legs became a twisted mess.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.