 Ishimori in November 2019 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1983-02-10)February 10, 1983 (age 42)[2] Tagajo, Miyagi, Japan[2] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Army Santa[1] Bone Soldier Ishimori Tai-chan Taiji Ishimori Superstar Bone Soldier Jr |
| Billed height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)[2] |
| Billed weight | 75 kg (165 lb)[2] |
| Trained by | Tamon Honda Último Dragón |
| Debut | May 11, 2002[2] |
Taiji Ishimori (石森 太二,Ishimori Taiji; born February 10, 1983) is a Japaneseprofessional wrestler. He is signed toNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member ofBullet Club and itsWar Dogs sub-group. Ishimori is a three-timeIWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, and is also a one-timeNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion alongside former Bullet Club teammatesTama Tonga andTanga Loa.
Ishimori is best known for his 12-year stint withPro Wrestling Noah, where he became one of the most decoratedjunior heavyweights in the promotion's history, holding theGHC Junior Heavyweight Championship three times, while also setting the record for the longest reign with the championship at 405 days during his first reign. Ishimori also held theGHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship a record six times, and won the promotion'sNippon TV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League a record four times. He is also known for his work inImpact Wrestling, where he is a one-timeImpact X Division Champion.
When he was anamateur wrestler, Taiji Ishimori was trained inToryumon Mexico and debuted againstFumiyuki Hashimoto in 2002. He went to compete in theYoung Dragons Cup and won after beatingJun Ogawauchi,Henry III Sugawara and lastlyCondotti Shuji. Shortly after, he was given apop idolgimmick and formed aboy band-like faction withKei and Shu Sato, calling themselves the Sailor Boys. Ishimori was intended to become the "ace" (the top student) of his graduating class, even going so far as to release an album, "Keep on Journey", to support their gimmick. However, the fan interest never matched his hype, and Ishimori became one of Toryumon's bigger failures. Sailor Boys' rival faction, Los Salseros Japoneses (Takeshi Minamino,Pineapple Hanai andMango Fukuda) was in turn more successful with the fans. While in the Toryumon X brand, Sailor Boys also feuded with Mini Crazy Max (Mini Cima,Suwacito andSmall Dandy Fujii), defeating them in X's debut show.
Unlike the rest of his class, Taiji did his Japanese debut forAll Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle-1 project. Returning to Mexico, he won theUWA World Welterweight Championship on May 11, 2003, defeatingSuper Crazy to win the belt. Ishimori defended the UWA World Welterweight Championship 2 times, againstFuerza Guerrera on August 31, 2003 and againstYossino on December 7, 2003. He dropped the UWA championship toTakeshi Minamino on August 29, 2004. He tried to regain the title in theDragon Fire The Final Challenge event, but it was unsuccessful. Also, at the last Toryumon X show, Sailor Boys challengedGedo,Jado andKatsushi Takemura for theUWA World Trios Championship, but they were defeated.
Following the title loss, Ishimori began working forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as one of their "Young Lions" prospects. Very early in his NJPW run he was teamed up withHiroshi Tanahashi for a one night U-30 (Under 30)tag team tournament. In the first round the team defeated Blue Wolf andKatsuhiko Nakajima and in the finals they defeatedRyusuke Taguchi andShinsuke Nakamura to win the tournament.[3] At one point he teamed up with his mentorÚltimo Dragón for an unsuccessful shot at theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, held byJado & Gedo at the time.[4] By mid-2005, Ishimori had left NJPW and begun working forAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW).
In August 2005, Ishimori debuted in AJPW teaming withKeiji Muto. They, along withKaz Hayashi,Satoshi Kojima and other face wrestlers, feuded with the villainousVoodoo Murders group. Ishimori also started teaming with another former NJPW rookie,Katsuhiko Nakajima, eventually taking part in the AJPW 2006 Junior Tag League. Together they defeated Kikujiro (Nobutaka Araya) &Kikutaro andAkira &Ryuji Hijikata, but they passed without achieving much success. Ended the league, Ishimori left All Japan.
During his time in AJPW, Ishimori also worked for the short lived promotion dragondoor as the topface (good guy), and once again failed to be accepted in that role by fans. He formed a high-flying faction withKota Ibushi,Little Dragon andMilanito Collection a.t., but they were beaten by the stable Aagan Iisou led byShuji Kondo. Ishimori also was in the El Dorado Wrestling debut show, leaving the promotion right after.
Ishimori began working as a freelance wrestler forPro Wrestling Noah in March, 2006 and often worked as part of theSEM promotion that was considered thedevelopmental territory for Noah. He began teaming up withKenta, wrestling on many shows together, trying to earn a match for theGHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. The team failed to win the title on their initial chance. Due to being trained in Mexico Ishimori often wrestled against MexicanLuchadores who toured with Noah, facing such opponents asCharly Manson orAbismo Negro.[5] He also wrestled on the Noah /AAA co-promoted showTripleSEM on September 3, 2007 teaming withEl Elegido and Kenta to lose to the Mexican Powers (Crazy Boy,Joe Líder andJuventud Guerrera).[6] In 2007 Ishimori became a full-time Noah wrestler and shortly after Ishimori and Kenta won the Tag Champions. The team went toDragon Gate and defeated the team ofBxB Hulk andShingo Takagi on March 20, 2008. to bring the Noah Junior Heavyweight Tag Title back to Noah.[7] Ishimori and Kenta successfully defended the title againstRicky Marvin andKotaro Suzuki and also the team ofBryan Danielson andEddie Edwards fromRing of Honor.[8][9] On July 13, 2008 Ishimori and Kenta were defeated byYoshinobu Kanemaru and Kotaro Suzuki and lost the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.[7] In September, 2008 the team won the2008 Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League, with 12 points for 6 victories including defeating the reigning GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag team champions in the last match.[10] In 2009 Ishimori began teaming regularly with Ricky Marvin, chasing after the Junior tag team titles. In early 2010 the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag title became vacant when Kotaro Suzuki suffered a knee injury. Ishimori and Marvin teamed up for a tournament to determine the next champions. They defeated Bobby Fish and Eddie Edwards in the first round and Genba Hirayanagi and Yoshinbou Kanemaru in the finals to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.[7] On August 22 Ishimori and Marvin lost the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship toNew Japan Pro-Wrestling representativesKoji Kanemoto andTiger Mask.[11] On January 27, 2013, Ishimori defeatedShuji Kondo to win theGHC Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time.[12] Through Noah's working relationship with Ring of Honor, Ishimori made his debut for the promotion on May 4, 2013, inToronto, Ontario, Canada, facing Eddie Edwards in a losing effort.[13] During the following day's tapings ofRing of Honor Wrestling Ishimori defeatedRoderick Strong in a singles match.[14] After a 405-day reign, the longest in the title's history, Ishimori lost the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship to Daisuke Harada on March 8, 2014.[15] He won the title for the second time on December 23, 2015, by defeatingTaichi.[16]
On July 5, 2016, Ishimori defeatedYoshinari Ogawa in a four-man tournament final to win one of Noah's three spots in NJPW's2016 Super J-Cup.[17] In this same month, Ishimori took part in the 2016NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League with his partner being American wrestler ACH. The pair won the tag league defeatingHajime Ohara andKenoh for a spot in the final match then defeating Momo no Seishun (Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada), at the time the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship holders, in the final match.[18] Their title match against Momo no Seishun was held on the final of the 2016 Super J-Cup and they were defeated.[19]
Upon Atsushi Kotoge's vacation of the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, Ishimori faced Hajime Ohara for the vacant title on January 7, 2017, Noah's first show of the year. Ishimori lost the match to Ohara.[20] Following a victory overHi69 on January 9, the two agreed to form a tag team and made their interest in the newly vacant GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship known. The team squared off with the team ofHayata andYo-Hey on February 18 for the vacated title and defeated them to become the thirtieth champions.[21] They went on to lose the title to Hayata and Yo-Hey in a rematch on August 26.[22] On March 12, 2018, Ishimori officially announced his departure from Pro Wrestling Noah. Ending his 12-year tenure with the company.
Through Noah's working relationship with AAA in Mexico Ishimori sometimes travels to Mexico, wrestling for AAA. This began in 2006 when he travelled to Mexico to team up withEl Oriental andNaomichi Marufuji to defeat The Mexican Powers (Crazy Boy, Joe Líder and Juventud Guerrera). Subsequently, he appeared on AAA's 2007Rey de Reyes event, teaming withEl Alebrije,El Zorro andBrazo de Plata to defeatLos Vipers Revolution (Antifaz,Histeria,Mr. Niebla and Kaoma, Jr.).[23] On March 19, 2010 Ishimori teamed up withTakeshi Morishima to defeatLa Hermandad 187 ("The Brotherhood of 187";Nicho el Millonario andJoe Líder) to win theAAA World Tag Team Championship, representing the AAAheel ("bad guy") factionLa Legión Extranjera ("The Foreign Legion").[24] On May 23, 2010 Morishima and Ishimori lost the AAA World Tag Team Championship to the team ofAtsushi Aoki andGo Shiozaki during Pro Wrestling Noah's Navigation with Breeze show inNiigata, Niigata,Japan.[25]
Ishimori returned to AAA on May 24, 2015, when he,Atsushi Kotoge andYoshihiro Takayama represented Pro Wrestling Noah in theLucha Libre World Cup. They were, however, defeated in the first round of the tournament by the Dream Team (Myzteziz,El Patrón Alberto andRey Mysterio Jr.).[26]
In early June 2016, Ishimori again represented Noah in the2016 Lucha Libre World Cup. Team Noah, made up of Ishimori,Maybach Taniguchi and Naomichi Marufuji, finished fourth in the tournament.[27]
On July 20, 2016, Ishimori returned to NJPW to take part in the2016 Super J-Cup events. On night one, he was eliminated from the Super J-Cup tournament in the first round byKushida.[28] At night two on August 21, he andACH utilized their championship opportunity granted by winning the2016 NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League to unsuccessfully challenge theGHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionsAtsushi Kotoge andDaisuke Harada.
On October 21 atRoad to Power Struggle, Ishimori and ACH entered the2016 Super Junior Tag Tournament. They advanced to the next round after defeating theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions,The Young Bucks in the first round.[29] After defeating David Finlay andRicochet in the semifinals on October 30,[30] Ishimori and ACH were defeated in the finals of the tournament byRoppongi Vice (Beretta andRocky Romero) on November 5.[31]
Through a working relationship between Noah andGlobal Force Wrestling (GFW), Ishimori made his debut for the American promotion on July 2, 2017, atSlammiversary XV. Teaming with fellow Noah wrestler Naomichi Marufuji, he took part in a four-way tag team match, contested for both the GFW Tag Team Championship and theImpact Wrestling World Tag Team Championship, which was won byThe Latin American Xchange (Santana and Ortiz).[32] Ishimori also took part in the following week'sGFW Impact! tapings, where he entered the2017 Super X Cup,[33] making it all the way to the finals, before losing toDezmond Xavier on August 17.[34]
Ishimori returned to GFW, now known as Impact Wrestling, on November 5, 2017, atBound for Glory, where he defeatedTyson Dux to earn a future shot at theImpact X Division Championship.[35] Four days later, Ishimori defeatedTrevor Lee to win the Impact X Division Championship for the first time.[36] He dropped the title toMatt Sydal on January 12, 2018, in a match where theImpact Grand Championship of his opponent was also on the line. In March, Ishimori signed his release from Pro Wrestling Noah, declaring himself a free agent, but with questions surrounding if he will ever be back on Impact Wrestling.[37]
On June 4, the official Impact Wrestling Twitter announced that Ishimori would make his return to the company, under hisNJPW Bone Soldier gimmick forSlammiversary XVI.[38] At the event Ishimori lost a fatal four-way match which was won byJohnny Impact. On the July 26 episode of Impact Wrestling, Ishimori defeatedPetey Williams. On the August 9 episode of Impact Wrestling, Ishimori and Williams defeatedDesi Hit Squad which turned out to be his final match in Impact. After November 24, 2018, his profile was removed from Impact website.
On April 13, 2018, NJPW began promoting the return of Bone Soldier, a wrestler last seen in the promotion in January 2017.[39] On May 4 atWrestling Dontaku 2018, Ishimori returned to NJPW revealing himself as the new Bone Soldier and in the process joinedBullet Club by attacking IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion,Will Ospreay. On May 7, NJPW announced Ishimori as a participant in the2018 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. He would complete the tournament with 5 wins and 2 losses, advancing to the finals. On June 4, Ishimori was defeated in the finals byHiromu Takahashi.
AtG1 Special in San Francisco, Bullet Club'sTama Tonga andTanga Loa along withKing Haku attacked other members of the group and declared themselves "Bullet Club OG".Bad Luck Fale andHikuleo aligned with this new Tongan subgroup, while the rest of the group has since been referred to as "Bullet Club Elite". Ishimori was confirmed by Tama Tonga as being part of BCOG. Ishimori, Tonga and Loa defeated the Young Bucks and Marty Scurll during the finals of the G1 Climax 28 to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions.
During the Road to Power Struggle, Ishimori entered the Super Jr. Tag Tournament, choosingRobbie Eagles as his tag team partner. Both Ishimori and Eagles finished the tournament with 6 points, failing to advance to the finals. On January 4 atWrestle Kingdom 13, Ishimori defeated Kushida to win theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On January 30, 2019, they lost the 6-Man Championship against Taguchi, Makabe and Yano,[40] while on April 6, he would lose the Jr. Heavyweight title intoDragon Lee as part of a triple threat match as part ofG1 Supercard.
On June 16, 2019 during NJPW's Kizuna Road event, Ishimori and Bullet Club teammateEl Phantasmo defeatedRoppongi 3K to win theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship for the first time.[41] Ishimori entered the 2019Super J Cup but was eliminated by SHO in the first round. On September 16, 2019 atDestruction Ishimori and Phantasmo made their first defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships againstWill Ospreay and former teammate Robbie Eagles. The duo then enteredSuper Junior Tag League 2019 where they finished with 10 points and a record of 5 wins and 2 losses, tied for first withSuzuki-gun andRoppongi 3K. Despite this Ishimori and Phantasmo were excluded from the finals atPower Struggle (2019) due to losing to both teams in the tournament and instead wrestled on the undercard of the show defeating theChaos team of Robbie Eagles andRocky Romero before attacking tournament winners Roppongi 3K after the finals. On January 5, 2020 atWrestle Kingdom 14 Ishimori and Phantasmo dropped the Junior Heavyweight Championships to Roppongi, ending their reign at 203 days, 1 successful defense.
In June 2020, Ishimori entered the 2020New Japan Cup, his debut in a heavyweight tournament, defeating young lion Gabriel Kidd in the first round. In the second round Ishimori faced his longtime rival Kanemaru, finally defeating him after 13 attempts. Ishimori would be eliminated in the quarterfinals by tournament runner upKazuchika Okada. AtDominion in Osaka-jo Hall (2020) Ishimori teamed with Bullet Club teammateYujiro Takahashi to defeat Okada andHirooki Goto. At Sengoku Lord in Nagoya Ishimori defeated Yuya Uemura then after the main event attacked junior heavyweight champion Hiromu Takahashi, challenging him for the belt. On August 29, 2020 atSummer Struggle in Jingu Ishimori won theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for a second time by tapping outHiromu Takahashi. After Roppongi 3K had to vacate the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championships, a four team round robin tournament was announced to crown new champions which Ishimori entered teaming with Gedo. The two finished the league with one win and two losses, failing to advance to the finals. Ishimori would then enter the 2020 Best of the Super Juniors, where he would finish with 14 Points (7 Wins & 2 Losses), however losses to Hiromu Takahashi &El Desperado caused Ishimori to finish in 3rd Place and barely miss the finals. Ishimori would lose his championship to the winner of the tournament, Hiromu Takahashi, atWrestle Kingdom 15.
Ishimori and Phantasmo defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado for the titles on January 23, 2021,[42] only to lose them back to the two one month later on February 25.[43][44] Later that year, they won the titles for a third time at Kizuna Road on June 23 by defeating Roppongi 3K. In July atWrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome, the duo retained the titles against Mega Coaches (Rocky Romero andRyusuke Taguchi).[45] The duo entered theSuper Junior Tag League, but the tournament was won by Desperado and Kanemaru.[46] The title match was scheduled forWrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome, where Phantasmo and Ishimori lost the titles.[47] In November, Ishimori entered theBest of the Super Juniors tournament, finishing with a record of 12 points, failing to advance to the finals.[48] AtWrestle Kingdom 16, Ishimori and Phantasmo now going by the name ofBullet Club's Cutest Tag Team, failed to regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships, after losing a three-way match between Mega Coaches and champions Flying Tiger (Robbie Eagles andTiger Mask), who retained.[49]
During the NJPW New Years Golden Series tour, Bullet Club's Cutest Tag Team failed to capture the Junior Heavyweight titles once again. In March, Ishimori entered theNew Japan Cup once again, receiving abye to the second round, where he lost toGreat-O-Khan.[50] In April atHyper Battle, Ishimori and Phantasmo once again unsuccessfully challenged for the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles, losing to Six or Nine (Ryusuke Taguchi andMaster Wato).[51] In May atWrestling Dontaku, Ishimori defeated El Desperado to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for a third time.[52] This led to Ishimori entering theBest of the Super Juniors 29 tournament, where he competed in the A Block.[53] Ishimori finished his tournament campaign with 12 points, narrowly missing out on a place in the finals, after a loss to block winner Hiromu Takahashi on the final day.[54] Ishimori avenged the loss, retaining the title against Takahashi the following month.[55] Ishimori held the title for the rest of the year, untilWrestle Kingdom 17, where he lost the title to Takahashi in a four-way match also involving Wato and Desperado, ending his 248 day reign.[56]
In May, Ishimori entered theBest of the Super Juniors 30, competing in the A Block.[57] During his penultimate block match with Hiromu Takahashi, Ishimori suffered a cervical spine injury. The injury was later confirmed to end his tournament campaign, forcing him to forfeit his final match againstTJP, thus resulting in him scoring 10 points.[58]
On October 9 atDestruction in Ryōgoku, Ishimori made his return from injury attacking IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, Hiromu Takahashi after his successful title defence and challenging him to a future title match.[59] Ishimori had his first match back since his injury on October 14, defeatingRevolution Pro Wrestling'sRobbie X atRoyal Quest III.[60]
On January 6, 2025, Ishimori announced that he was now a member of theWar Dogs sub-group of Bullet Club.[61]
On the February 29, 2024 episode ofROH on Honor Club, Ishimori made his return to ROH for the first time since 2019, defeating Jacoby Watts.[62]
U-30 One Night Tag Tournament Final: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Taiji Ishimori besiegen Ryusuke Taguchi & Shinsuke Nakamura (14:49)
