Taiji Ishimori Announces He's Leaving Pro Wrestling NOAH
Former Impact Wrestling X-Division Champion Taiji Ishimori announced on Instagram that he has given his resignation to Pro Wrestling NOAH. Ishimori has worked for the company since 2006. According to Chris Charlton on Twitter, Ishimori said that he needed to leave NOAH to take a big step now, otherwise he'd regret it forever.
"Lots of Japanese wrestlers are active internationally right now," Ishimori told Tokyo Sports, translated by Charlton. "I want to be among them, for Taiji Ishimori to appeal on a global scale. I'm open to offers at home and abroad."
Ishimori has worked for Impact Wrestling since last summer as part of a talent exchange agreement between Impact and NOAH. He last wrestled for Impact at this past January's television tapings in Orlando, where he lost the X-Division Championship to Matt Sydal. It's not known if he will continue to work for Impact now that he has left NOAH.
You can check out Ishimori's statement below, which roughly translates to:
Today, I announce my resignation from Pro Wrestling NOAH.
This picture is of the first time I went up to Noah's ring.
Thank you very much for your warm encouragement for the past 12 years.
A post shared by ???? (@taijiishimori) on
Luis Abreu contributed to this article.