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born February 10, 1983 is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club and its War Dogs sub-group. Ishimori is a three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, and is also a one-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion alongside former Bullet Club teammates Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa.
Ishimori is best known for his 12-year stint with Pro Wrestling Noah, where he became one of the most decorated junior heavyweights in the promotion's history, holding the GHC 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 the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship a record six times, and won the promotion's Nippon TV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League a record four times. He is also known for his work in Impact Wrestling, where he is a one-time Impact X Division Champion.
Unlike the rest of his class, Taiji did his Japanese debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle-1 project. Returning to Mexico, he won the UWA World Welterweight Championship on May 11, 2003, defeating Super Crazy to win the belt. Ishimori defended the UWA World Welterweight Championship 2 times, against Fuerza Guerrera on August 31, 2003 and against Masato Yoshino on December 7, 2003. He dropped the UWA championship to Takeshi Minamino on August 29, 2004. He tried to regain the title in the Dragon Fire The Final Challenge event, but it was unsuccessful. Also, at the last Toryumon X show, Sailor Boys challenged Gedo, Jado and Katsushi Takemura for the UWA World Trios Championship, but they were defeated.
During his time in AJPW, Ishimori also worked for the short lived promotion dragondoor as the top face (good guy), and once again failed to be accepted in that role by fans. He formed a high-flying faction with Kota Ibushi, Takuya Sugi and Tsutomu Oosugi, but they were beaten by the stable Aagan Iisou led by Shuji Kondo. Ishimori also was in the El Dorado Wrestling debut show, leaving the promotion right after.
On July 5, 2016, Ishimori defeated Yoshinari Ogawa in a four-man tournament final to win one of Noah's three spots in NJPW's 2016 Super J-Cup. In this same month, Ishimori took part in the 2016 NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League with his partner being American wrestler ACH. The pair won the tag league defeating Hajime Ohara and Kenoh 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. Their title match against Momo no Seishun was held on the final of the 2016 Super J-Cup and they were defeated.
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. Following a victory over Hi69 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 of Hayata and Yo-Hey on February 18 for the vacated title and defeated them to become the thirtieth champions. They went on to lose the title to Hayata and Yo-Hey in a rematch on August 26. On March 12, 2018, Ishimori officially announced his departure from Pro Wrestling Noah. Ending his 12-year tenure with the company.
Ishimori returned to AAA on May 24, 2015, when he, Atsushi Kotoge and Yoshihiro Takayama represented Pro Wrestling Noah in the Lucha Libre World Cup. They were, however, defeated in the first round of the tournament by the Dream Team (Myzteziz, El Patrón Alberto and Rey Mysterio).
In early June 2016, Ishimori again represented Noah in the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup. Team Noah, made up of Ishimori, Maybach Taniguchi and Naomichi Marufuji, finished fourth in the tournament.
On October 21 at Road to Power Struggle, Ishimori and ACH entered the 2016 Super Junior Tag Tournament. They advanced to the next round after defeating the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, The Young Bucks in the first round. After defeating David Finlay and Ricochet in the semifinals on October 30, Ishimori and ACH were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Roppongi Vice (Trent Barreta and Rocky Romero) on November 5.
Ishimori returned to GFW, now known as Impact Wrestling, on November 5, 2017, at Bound for Glory, where he defeated Tyson Dux to earn a future shot at the Impact X Division Championship. Four days later, Ishimori defeated Trevor Lee to win the Impact X Division Championship for the first time. He dropped the title to Matt Sydal on January 12, 2018, in a match where the Impact 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.
On June 4, the official Impact Wrestling Twitter announced that Ishimori would make his return to the company, under his NJPW Bone Soldier gimmick for Slammiversary XVI.http://impactwrestling.com/the-bone-soldier-coming-to-slammiversary/ At the event Ishimori lost a fatal four-way match which was won by Johnny Impact. On the July 26 episode of Impact Wrestling, Ishimori defeated Petey Williams. On the August 9 episode of Impact Wrestling, Ishimori and Williams defeated Desi Hit Squad which turned out to be his final match in Impact. After November 24, 2018, his profile was removed from Impact website.
At G1 Special in San Francisco, Bullet Club's Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa along with Tonga Fifita attacked other members of the group and declared themselves "Bullet Club OG". Bad Luck Fale and Hikuleo 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, choosing Robbie 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 at Wrestle Kingdom 13, Ishimori defeated Kushida to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On January 30, 2019, they lost the 6-Man Championship against Taguchi, Makabe and Yano, while on April 6, he would lose the Jr. Heavyweight title into Dragon Lee as part of a triple threat match as part of G1 Supercard.
On June 16, 2019 during NJPW's Kizuna Road event, Ishimori and Bullet Club teammate El Phantasmo defeated Roppongi 3K to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship for the first time. Csonka's Kizuna Road review - 411 Mania.com Ishimori entered the 2019 Super J Cup but was eliminated by SHO in the first round. On September 16, 2019 at Destruction Ishimori and Phantasmo made their first defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against Will Ospreay and former teammate Robbie Eagles. The duo then entered Super Junior Tag League 2019 where they finished with 10 points and a record of 5 wins and 2 losses, tied for first with Suzuki-gun and Roppongi 3K. Despite this Ishimori and Phantasmo were excluded from the finals at Power Struggle (2019) due to losing to both teams in the tournament and instead wrestled on the undercard of the show defeating the Chaos team of Robbie Eagles and Rocky Romero before attacking tournament winners Roppongi 3K after the finals. On January 5, 2020 at Wrestle 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 2020 New 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 up Kazuchika Okada. At Dominion in Osaka-jo Hall (2020) Ishimori teamed with Bullet Club teammate Yujiro Takahashi to defeat Okada and Hirooki 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 at Summer Struggle in Jingu Ishimori won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for a second time by tapping out Hiromu 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 & Kyosuke Mikami 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, at Wrestle Kingdom 15.
Ishimori and Phantasmo defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado for the titles on January 23, 2021, only to lose them back to the two one month later on February 25. Later that year, they won the titles for a third time at Kizuna Road on June 23 by defeating Roppongi 3K. In July at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome, the duo retained the titles against Mega Coaches (Rocky Romero and Ryusuke Taguchi). The duo entered the Super Junior Tag League, but the tournament was won by Desperado and Kanemaru. The title match was scheduled for Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome, where Phantasmo and Ishimori lost the titles. In November, Ishimori entered the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, finishing with a record of 12 points, failing to advance to the finals. At Wrestle Kingdom 16, Ishimori and Phantasmo now going by the name of Bullet 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 and Tiger Mask), who retained.
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 the New Japan Cup once again, receiving a bye to the second round, where he lost to Great-O-Khan. In April at Hyper Battle, Ishimori and Phantasmo once again unsuccessfully challenged for the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles, losing to Six or Nine (Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato). In May at Wrestling Dontaku, Ishimori defeated El Desperado to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for a third time. This led to Ishimori entering the Best of the Super Juniors 29 tournament, where he competed in the A Block. 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. Ishimori avenged the loss, retaining the title against Takahashi the following month. Ishimori held the title for the rest of the year, until Wrestle Kingdom 17, where he lost the title to Takahashi in a four-way match also involving Wato and Desperado, ending his 248 day reign.
In May, Ishimori entered the Best of the Super Juniors 30, competing in the A Block. 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 against TJP, thus resulting in him scoring 10 points.
On October 9 at Destruction 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. Ishimori had his first match back since his injury on October 14, defeating Revolution Pro Wrestling's Robbie X at Royal Quest III.
On January 6, 2025, Ishimori announced that he was now a member of the War Dogs sub-group of Bullet Club.
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