#3 The Great Muta creates 'The Muta Scale'
When wrestling commentators and fans discuss bloody matches, they’re rating on what’s called ‘the Muta Scale’. This is based on what was once considered the bloodiest match in wrestling history, a match between Hiroshi Hase and Keiji ‘the Great Muta’ Mutoh on November 22nd, 1992 (which is considered 1.0 Muta on the scale).
In that match, Hase used a foreign object to strike Muta in the forehead. Seconds later, Muta bladed very deeply, and within seconds, Muta’s head, face, chest and pants were covered in blood, as was the ring canvas around him.
Muta continued wrestling the rest of the match, despite his face being covered in a deep shade of red. This wasn’t just an ‘ordinary’ blade job that left a portion of his face red; Muta’s face was so bloody that one could barely see his actual facial features beneath the deep crimson mask. If it weren’t for his open eyes; you wouldn’t be able to make out his face altogether.
At the time, it wasn’t often that the silent and respectful Japanese wrestling audience would react and groan in the same way that their American counterparts do. But when those fans saw Muta’s head bloodied to such a degree, they were shocked beyond belief.
Such a blade job would get any WWE Superstar fired in an instant. It’s bad enough that the mat was bloody beyond belief within seconds. But Muta bladed so badly that he actually set the standard for bloody matches.
To this day, only one WWE match has surpassed this legendary bloodbath in terms of causing fans discomfort, and that’s not an accomplishment you want for yourself, no matter how good of a wrestler you consider yourself.
