The Great Muta has reiterated that he wanted to face Dwayne Johnson in his retirement match.
The Japanese legend first made the claim back in February, before commenting that a deal never happened as the WWE star wanted “billions of yen.”
Speaking to Marc Raimondi the star also known as Keiji Muto, said that he originally wanted to face Shinsuke Nakamura at the Tokyo Dome. However, WWE didn’t approve Nakamura’s appearance fast enough, which meant he faced him in Pro Wrestling NOAH on January 1st.
When asked about the report that he also looked at making a deal with The Rock, Muta said that he was too expensive.
“He nodded and said, in English with a smile, “too expensive.”
When asked about The Rock specifically, Muta said that the Hollywood megastar told him he styled his People’s Elbow after the Japanese star’s own elbow drop.
“I met him before two or three times. He actually admitted that his People’s Elbow was a mimic of my move. So I asked him for royalties. But we were joking and he didn’t pay anything, but we really had a good conversation.”
I asked Muto about the report he was trying to get The Rock as his last match. He nodded and said, in English with a smile, "too expensive." Muto is still not sure why WWE chose to induct him since he never stepped in a WWE ring before. Muto: "I was like, 'What? Really? Why me?'"
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) March 23, 2023
Dwayne Johnson Returning To WWE?
The Rock hasn’t wrestled a real match since being defeated by John Cena at WrestleMania 29. Although, it had been heavily speculated that he would be getting back in the ring at WrestleMania 39 to face off against Roman Reigns.
However, the star reportedly told WWE in January that he wouldn’t be able to compete as he didn’t have time to get into ring shape. Despite this, former WWE writer and SVP of Development at Seven Bucks Productions Brian Gewirtz later claimed that this wasn’t the reason.