11 Most Influential Japanese Wrestlers Of All Time

3. Keiji Mutoh/The Great Muta

There have been few Japanese wrestlers more emulated than The Great Muta. One of the few true gimmicks in Japanese wrestling, Keiji Mutoh was, and still remains, one of the most iconic wrestlers in Japanese history. Muto€™s gimmick is one of the most recognizable in the world; from his outlandish face paint, to spitting Green Mist (a move he popularized after watching the Great Kabuki), Muto has made a name for himself as a skilled wrestler who was also able to adapt to the €˜entertainment€™ side of wrestling very well. As a wrestler, he is credited with the invention of one of the simplest yet most widely used finishing attacks in wrestling: The Shining Wizard. He started using it in 2001, when he completely changed both his look and wrestling style. The Shining Wizard brought him great success, as it helped him capture numerous titles, including both All Japan€™s Triple Crown Championship and New Japan€™s IWGP Heavyweight Championship. It has since been used by many wrestlers, including AJ Lee, CM Punk, Gregory €˜Hurricane€™ Helms, and many others. One of his biggest contributions to Japanese wrestling was when Giant Baba€™s widow transferred all of her stocks in All Japan to Mutoh, ushering in what some call All Japan€™s €˜Pro Wrestling Love€™ era. This was a period that quite possibly saved All Japan from going under completely, as it ignited cross-promotional feuds with New Japan, and many exciting, never-before-seen matches that would€™ve never happened under Baba€™s reign. These days, Mutoh still wrestles as both himself and as part of his Great Muta gimmick, as he also runs his own promotion, Wrestle-1. He also competes for other promotions as well, having a few appearances in TNA recently.