Great Muta Helping Promote WWE's Return To Japanese Television

As previously noted, WWE has entered a new broadcasting rights agreement with ABEMA to air "WWE Raw," "WWE NXT," "WWE SmackDown," and premium live events on the free ad-supported streaming platform in Japan.

The new deal is receiving some promotional boost from Japanese legend and WWE Hall of Famer The Great Muta. Dave Meltzer noted in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Muta appeared on a taped show to kick off the streaming deal, which was seemingly part of the reason why he visited WWE Payback in Pittsburgh last month. Muta also appeared in the front row that night to witness Shinsuke Nakamura challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event.

Previously, WWE fans in Japan had to have a paid subscription to J Sports in order to watch WWE programming. Fortunately, this new streaming deal allows fans to watch the content for free, however, it will air on a tape delay. The October 2 episode of "Raw" is expected to be the first show to air starting on Tuesday.

The man known as Keiji Muto has had a significant 2023 thus far as he officially wrapped up his nearly 40-year career in February. In one of his final matches as The Great Muta, he lost to Nakamura at Pro Wrestling NOAH's New Year's event. That marked Nakamura's first NOAH match in a decade and was obviously a big deal since he competed as an active WWE superstar. WWE then inducted The Great Muta into the Hall of Fame as part of the 2023 class during WrestleMania 39 weekend in Los Angeles.