Earlier this morning, Keiji Muto wrestled the final matchup of his career, ending a legendary career that expanded nearly four decades. The former multi-time world champion lost to Tetsuya Naito at today’s Pro Wrestling NOAH event after the LIJ leader hit his signature Destino finisher.
Muto later spoke with the press after the event ended to reflect on his final outing, including how he came into the bout with an injury that slowed him down even more than his age did. Highlights from his chat can be found below.
How he went into his final matchup injured but was still able to move around better than he thought he would:
It’s been 39 years this year, and there have been tough times along the way. After all, I’ve been constantly injured, and this time, for the past month, I was really bothered by a separated hamstring. Fortunately, that’s all I had to do today. I worked really hard on the treatment and rehabilitation. I’m glad I was able to move more than I thought I could. Well, everyone has to deal with injuries. I’m really glad I was able to finish. Many wrestlers don’t get to have retirement matches like this, but I was really happy in my wrestling career.
Says he does have some regrets in his career, later joking that he doesn’t feel like he’s retired:
I have a lot of regrets (I’ve had throughout my career). I’m reflecting on what I could have done a little more, and I’m going down this road. Even though there is no next time. Maybe I don’t really feel like I’m retiring yet (laughs). There are so many little things that I should have done differently.
(H/T and transcribed by Post Wrestling)