The Great Muta Final "Bye-Bye"

Promotional poster featuring The Great Muta and Sting

**The Great Muta Final "Bye-Bye"** was a professional wrestling event promoted by CyberFight's sub-brand Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah). The event took place on January 22, 2023, in Yokohama, Japan, at the Yokohama Arena. The event aired on CyberAgent's AbemaTV online linear television service and CyberFight's streaming service Wrestle Universe and on FITE TV. Headlined by the retirement match of Keiji Mutoh's "The Great Muta" character, all in all, the event featured nine matches and wrestlers from not only Noah, but also from American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and Japanese promotion Dragon Gate (DG).

## Production

### Background

On June 12, 2022 at CyberFight Festival, Keiji Mutoh announced his retirement from professional wrestling. Afterwards, it was announced that Mutoh would take part in a trial series, under his regular gimmick and "The Great Muta" gimmick.

Considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Mutoh is also one of the first Japanese wrestlers to gain an international fanbase. "The Great Muta" gimmick is one of the most influential in puroresu, emulated by many wrestlers and Mutoh's best-known gimmick, which he has wrestled as often throughout his career, switching back and forth between this alter ego and his real name since March 1989. He was originally billed as the son of Japanese wrestler Great Kabuki (unrelated in real life), who used a similar gimmick, but the connection is rarely mentioned nowadays. Like his father, Great Muta is a mysterious, manifestly supernatural character who distinguishes himself through his macabre looks and magical skills. His appearance is highlighted by his lavish, exotical entrance costumes, which are taken off to reveal a horrifically painted face, later replaced by an organic-looking mask after Muto shaved his head. He took part in what was generally considered to be one of the bloodiest professional wrestling matches at the time against Hiroshi Hase, leading to the creation of the "Muta scale", which rates the bloodiness of matches relative to this one's 1.0 value. Muta used Muto's moveset with little variation (his version of the *Shining Wizard* is named *Senkou Youjutsu* ("Flash Magic") instead), though Muta tends to be much more aggressive and weapon-friendly. Muta can also spit green or red mist and plays mind games to distract his opponents. The Great Muta is the gimmick most fans in the United States know Muto for, as he wrestled as The Great Muta throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s for the NWA, and in his later stints in WCW.

On November 20, 2022, at NJPW's Historic X-Over, Mutoh under the The Great Muta gimmick made his last appearance in NJPW, teaming with Kazuchika Okada and Toru Yano to defeat United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb and Aaron Henare), in a winning effort. Three days later, Noah announced that Muta would team with old WCW rival Sting and his protégé Darby Allin in his last match under the gimmick. Muta had previously appeared in All Elite Wrestling (AEW), at *AEW Rampage*: Grand Slam, saving Sting from The House of Black. The previous month, Sting told *Sports Illustrated* that he was trying to get Allin to come with him for Muta's final match, which he eventually accepted. According to Sting Muta was "the only Japanese wrestler that ever transcended wrestling in America as far as Japanese wrestlers coming" to the United States. Muta and Sting story, dates back to the National Wrestling Alliance in 1989. The Muta and Sting feud peaked in October 1989 at Halloween Havoc, a seminal stretch that acquainted both face-paint-wearing men to the main event. With Bruno Sammartino as special guest referee, Ric Flair and Sting teamed up to defeat Terry Funk and Muta in a Thunderdome match. The match elevated Sting and Muta to another tier of superstardom. Muta had defeated Sting for the NWA World Television Championship a month before. That effectively marked the beginning of Sting's main-event run, as he would close out December’s Starrcade against Flair and become WCW's signature star in the 1990s. For Muta, this run introduced him to fans in the United States and brought his popularity to new heights.

### Storylines

The event featured nine professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.