Retirement Special Interview with Keiji Mutoh! I have no intention of retiring!
What are the new ambitions of the pro-wrestling master after his 60th birthday?
Hey, FRIDAY! You’re late. Normally, you come before the retirement match to stir things up!
His eyes widened, and he delivered a stern proclamation, but then he would laugh and make the audience feel at ease. Keiji Mutoh, 60, the “Pro Wrestling Master,” was in full force from the moment he appeared on the stage.
He ended his active career at the “Keiji Muto Retirement Match” held at the Tokyo Dome on February 21. Despite being held on a weekday, more than 30,000 spectators came to the venue, and the exclusive live broadcast of “ABEMA PPV ONLINE LIVE” broke the record for the highest number of tickets sold at a pro wrestling event. It was the perfect stage for the legend’s curtain-raiser, but behind the scenes, Muto had a certain fear.
I was anxious before the match,” he said, “I had separated hamstrings in both legs on January 22. It was the first time I had ever been afraid of a match coming up. Every day I went to a specialized facility in Hachioji to do muscle training to avoid overloading the affected area, and I went into a hyperbaric oxygen therapy room. I did everything I could.
He has artificial joints in both knees, and his body is wracked with wounds. He was injecting himself with painkillers while fighting. Even so, he showed no signs of enduring the pain in the ring and fought to the death for nearly 30 minutes with Tetsuya Naito (40), who has declared himself to be “the man of my dreams,” before losing.
At the moment of defeat, I looked up at the ceiling of the dome and thought, ‘It’s over. I didn’t feel any sense of accomplishment or emotion. But after I went back down the aisle, I found myself reflecting on the game. Even though there was no next game (laughs). (Laughs.) I was busy greeting the people concerned and holding press conferences, and when I came to, it was late at night. I went home, ate the food my wife had cooked for me, and drank a toast with shochu by myself.
He also shared this anecdote about his retirement match.
There were many possible opponents. The biggest was Dwayne Johnson (50), the Hollywood actor known as “The Rock. But he demanded an unbelievable amount of money. He said, “You’ve got to be kidding me! I said to him, ‘Are you kidding me?
He recalled his unprecedented “second retirement match” with Masahiro Chono (59) as follows.
I had been planning to pick Chono as my last opponent since last September, when the venue was decided to be Tokyo Dome. It would be dramatic to have the same fighter in both my debut and final matches, wouldn’t it? I was so excited when I faced him in the ring and saw his sharp eyes. It was the same …… as in his prime, or even sharper. I’m proud that I got to fight him at the end, when he was at his best.”
