Bruce Prichard Says This WWE Hall Of Famer Never Came Close To Wrestling For Company

Since retiring from wrestling in 2023, Keiji Muto, aka Great Muta, has found himself getting more involved with WWE, including being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. The irony is that Muto never wrestled for WWE during his legendary career, instead wrestling for WCW on and off from 1989 through 2000 when he made appearances in the United States.

While one would think that WWE had interest in bringing Muto in during the prime of his career, long-time WWE executive Bruce Prichard stated that wasn't the case during the latest "Something to Wrestle With." While Prichard noted that he and Pat Patterson did meet Mutoh while visiting a WCW event in New Haven, Connecticut in 1989, he claimed he and Patterson were there just to say hello, and that they weren't looking to poach talent.

Even if they had, Prichard explained there were too many difficulties should they have pursued Muto. This included his contractual status to both WCW and New Japan Pro Wrestling at the time, and the presence of Gary Hart, who was on the outs with WWE, despite being an essential part of Muto's career as Mutoh's manager and translator.

"There was a language barrier there, so it was somewhat difficult," Prichard said. "You [also] kind of had to...you would've had to go through Gary, and there was no [WWE] interest in Gary, especially at that time. Gary had already been up and had meetings with Vince and Pat, or a cup of coffee. And there was no interest there. Yeah, we went to say hello, and again, he was under contract. It just never happened."

If you use any quotes in this article, please credit "Something To Wrestle" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription