Shinsuke Nakamura discusses his upcoming match against The Great Muta. Nakamura, ahead of a very unlikely encounter with Keiji Mutoh’s alter ego, The Great Muta, has revealed that WWE initially shot down the idea.
In what is a very rare occurrence, Shinsuke Nakamura will go one-on-one with The Great Muta on Sunday, January 1 in Pro-Wrestling NOAH. Nakamura is a contracted WWE Superstar and WWE Superstars rarely get to compete outside of promotional boundaries. In fact, WWE previously shot down this idea before the regime change in the summer.
Shinsuke Nakamura Discusses How His Match With Muta Came To Be
Speaking to Yahoo! Sports in Japan, the former WWE United States Champion revealed that before Triple H took over, the Vince McMahon regime shot down the idea.
“It was something that would never have happened under the previous structure of the WWE. (NOAH came to me with the idea, and we discussed it, but my answer was no. Vince (McMahon, Chairman, and CEO of WWE) stepped down in the summer, and I was advised by people within the company that it might be possible now. I still thought it would be difficult, but I even talked directly to Triple H (WWE’s vice president). When the decision was actually made, I was shaken.”
Nakamura adds, “There was a big change in the WWE between when Mutoh announced his retirement and when the match was decided. Vince, who was the symbol of everything, was retiring, and that was something that no one could believe. Everything changes in America when the top changes. At that time, there was a feeling that many things would change in the future. One of the changes that occurred to me was this. The fact that ‘no’ became ‘yes’ gave me a boost.”
Nakamura also stated that since this will be his first and last match against Muta, he is hoping to get wild.
“If possible, I want to go wild. My opponent is a peculiar Great Muta, so this will be my first and last match against Great Muta. Well, I want to enjoy it to the fullest.”
Keiji Mutoh is set to have his final match on February 23 2023 and will compete in his last match as Muta on January 22, 2023. As for Nakamura, he has not wrestled outside of WWE since 2016 when he signed with the promotion at the same time as AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows.