Report: Backstage News On Shinsuke Nakamura's Pro Wrestling NOAH Match With The Great Muta

In a shock announcement over the weekend, it was revealed that Shinsuke Nakamura would return to Pro Wrestling NOAH at the promotion's New Year's Day 2023 show to face The Great Muta in one of Keiji Muto's final matches under the mask.

While WWE have allowed talent to wrestle for NOAH in recent years, namely KENTA in 2018 when he faced Naomichi Marufuji, the company have largely remained aloof from the rest of the professional wrestling world.

According to Tokyo Sports, NOAH wanted Nakamura to be a part of Keiji Muto's retirement tour from the beginning but the promotion and WWE initially could not come to terms on a deal. That changed following Vince McMahon's retirement in July and NOAH and the new WWE regime agreed to a deal on October 26.

Nakamura even joked about being the real Forbidden Door while speaking about the match with Tokyo Sports.

"There were people in WWE who pushed me. It's nothing short of a miracle. Of course, I wanted to do it. It was an area that no one had ever stepped into, or rather, it opened a door that no one had been able to pry open. Ha ha ha...It's a real Fоrbidden Dооr," he said.

Muto will have one final match as Great Muta later in January when he teams with Sting. His final match as Keiji Muto will take place on February 23 inside the Tokyo Dome.

Muto and Nakamura have faced each other twice before, with the Musketeer defeating Shinsuke to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in April 2008. Muto then retained the gold in a rematch later that year.

H/T to Fightful