Shinsuke Nakamura Says Wrestling The Great Muta Wouldn’t Have Happened Under Old WWE Regime
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Great Muta is one of the few unexpected benefits of Triple H being in charge.
On January 1st, 2023, New Year’s Day, Shinsuke Nakamura will be wrestling in one of his biggest dream matches. On the first big show of the new year, Nakamura will be facing the legendary Great Muta in one of Muta’s last matches as an active wrestler.
This match was confirmed weeks ago but is still considered a big deal. Not only is it important for longtime wrestling fans who have followed the business for years and know the name ‘Muta’, but also because Nakamura is a WWE wrestler wrestling outside of WWE while under contract.
Such a thing was considered unheard of not too long ago. But according to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, Shinsuke Nakamura wrestling The Great Muta is one of the added positives of the new Triple H-leg regime.
Meltzer quoted a Japanese-language interview with Nakamura that revealed that the old regime under Vince McMahon wouldn’t have allowed this match, even if it posed no threat or competition to WWE’s juggernaut.
According to the WON, everything changed when Vince McMahon stepped down. Once that transition was finalized, things that would’ve been rejected under Vince became possible. So when Nakamura approached the same officials that rejected his proposal under Vince, he was shaken when they approved the match with Muta now that Triple H was in charge.
This match is part of Keiji Muto/Great Muta’s retirement tour. Muto, as Great Muta, will wrestle Nakamura on January 1st for Pro Wrestling NOAH’s The New Year event, which will air for an international audience on Wrestling Universe.
Muto/Muta’s final match will take place on Tuesday, February 21st, 2023 in the Tokyo Dome. But before that date, he has one other match scheduled that will see him team with AEW’s Sting and Darby Allin.