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What's the story?
Former Impact Wrestling X-Division Champion Taiji Ishimori took to Instagram to announce his departure from Pro Wrestling Noah after being with the top Japenese Promotion for 12 years.
While speaking to the media in Japan, the 35-year-old revealed that coming to WWE is the eventual goal.
Below is the translation of the post:
By the date, I left the wrestling ring Noah. Picture of the time when I first got on Noah's ring. Thank you very much for your warm encouragement for 12 years.
In case you didn't know...
Ishimori began wrestling in 2002 and joined Pro Wrestling Noah in 2006 after brief stints in NJPW and All Japan Pro Wrestling. Having spent 12 years with the company, Ishimori went on to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship three times while also being the longest reigning champion.
To add on to his exploits with the Junior Heavyweight title, the man known also as Tai-Chan won the tag team titles on 6 different occasions with Hideo Itami being one of his partners during these reigns.
Ishimori has been working with Impact Wrestling as part of the talent exchange deal between Noah and WWE rivals. He beat Trevor Lee to win his first ever X-Division title in November 2017 and held the title for 64 days before dropping it to Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne for the WWE faithful) earlier this year.
The heart of the matter
Being close to the wrong side his thirties forced Ishimori to walk out of Noah as he didn't want to live with the regret of not following his dream and that is to make it into WWE.
In a quote picked up by Nikkam Sports from his media interaction, Ishimori claimed that he felt inspired by WWE Superstars such as his good friend Hideo Itami, Kota Ibushi and of course, Shinsuke Nakamura.
He asserted that he intends on being in the business with WWE as his goal and seems optimistic about his fortunes.
What's next?
The ambitious Japenese star's Impact wrestling future hangs in the balance with the termination of his Noah contract. It will be interesting to see if WWE approach the veteran with the focus shifting on pushing seasoned talents from the land of the rising sun.
Author's take
Having wrestled extensively in Japan along with a handy spell in Impact, Ishimori may be a perfect signing for WWE as we're on the cusp of having Shinsuke Nakamura as the face of SmackDown Live.
At the ripe old age of 35, it's now or never for the 'Sexy Boy' of Japenese pro wrestling.
