Keiji Muto wrestled his final match as The Great Muta last month, defeating AKIRA, Hakushi, and Naomichi Marufuji in a six-man tag team match with Sting and Darby Allin. He needed assistance getting to the backstage area after the match.
Muto revealed that he tore a thigh muscle during the fight while speaking at the K-1 MMA Awards (via Tokyo Sports).
“I’m going to have a good match [final match against Tetsuya Naito], but I had a match 10 days ago and tore a muscle in my thigh. I’m in a pinch, but I’ll do my best. Actually, I was in bad shape before I went in that day [Great Muta Bye Bye]. I had back pain. I don’t know what triggered it, but I was out of shape. Knee pain and such is chronic pain and I’m used to it, but muscles hurt like hell. I think I put extra strain on my knee and hip joints by protecting them. I feel like I’ve been given a test by the wrestling Gods. I don’t know what to do. I train only my upper body, but it’s really hard to do that too. It’s stressing me out,” he said.
Muto’s retirement match against Naito is scheduled for February 21. His need for a hip replacement and the fact that he won’t be able to wrestle after the operation are the causes of his retirement tour.
