On This Day in Wrestling History, September 3, 1989, the Great Muta faced and defeated Sting for the vacant NWA Television Championship at a house show at The Omni in Atlanta Georgia.
The Great Muta was one of the most dynamic wrestlers of his era and of all time, so when he faced Sting it became an instant classic despite it being at a house show.
Considering it was a no disqualification match only adds to the mystique these two brought to the event, and it’s a fun watch.
Building process
One thing we don’t hear too much about it the process behind closed doors when it comes to creating and building someone’s character.
One practice was to have them work with an established, trusted mentor for months to hone their skills into what the company expects, and then the fun starts.
Special thanks to @awrestlinghistorian for the excerpt below.
“The Great Muta had only been with me for three months, and was just grasping what we were creating. I knew that it was going to take him a while to realize who he was and what we were doing and at that point in time, he clearly wasn’t ready to be on his own. Yes, he was a great worker, but he was still coming to me during his matches for instructions. I had to make him understand that he had value.
“It may sound strange to you, but for a lot of guys especially those who had worked underneath for a long time, once someone plucks them out of the opening matches and decides to give them a push, it’s very hard for them to understand who they are becoming or who they had already become. It’s a very difficult thing to take a young guy and mold him and develop him into who I know he can be and just because he was over at that moment doesn’t mean that he would stay over.
“Developing someone’s career is sort of like painting a picture on a blank canvas. I have an idea in my head where I’m going, but I don’t really know what it will look like until it’s through. Once I know I’m finished, I let the gimmick morph into whatever the fans want it to be and then turn my attention to developing someone else.
“And if you think I’m taking too much credit for The Great Muta’s success, do some research and see how long Keiji Mutoh had been doing second and third matches before I took him under my wing and made him a sensation. Then ask yourself: why wasn’t he a sensation before? So as I was in the midst of developing The Great Muta, the booking committee was desperate to break us up. All those learned men, didn’t they know that Rome wasn’t built in a day?” – Gary Hart, My Life In Wrestling book.
This is some great insight into the process and everyone was the better for it.
The Great Muta had an awesome career and is technically not retired despite being 58 years old, so he may have more of This Day in Wrestling History moments ahead of him.
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