By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
New Japan Pro Wrestling “Superhuman Taiji Ishimori Gets Ridiculous”
November 12, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan at Shinjuku FACE
Streamed live on New Japan World
This show was released with Japanese-only commentary. This is a small gym or club; I wouldn’t say it’s big enough to be an arena. The lights are low and the crowd is maybe 700.
1. Taiji Ishimori vs. Daiki Nagai. The Young Lion appears to be taller. Ishimori locked in a cross-armbreaker at 1:30, but Daiki reached the ropes. They traded forearms, and Ishimori hit a dropkick to his face. He locked in an Octopus Stretch, and Daiki tapped out.
Taiji Ishimori defeated Daiki Nagai at 3:29.
2. Kagetora and Taiji Ishimori vs. Brahman Ryusuke Taguchi, Brahman Shu, and Brahman Kai in a handicap match. Yes, Ishimori is wrestling in a second straight match. I don’t know anyone here except Taiji and Taguchi. It appears the Brahmans’ gimmick is to douse fans with water, and many fans donned raincoats to avoid getting wet. Someone threw powder and it angered the ref, and the ref declared Taguchi’s team the winner before a punch was thrown. However, they decided to restart the match. The Brahman team seems more interested in getting people wet than wrestling. Taguchi rolled a bowling ball into Kegetora’s groin in a corner at 5:00. Yep, this is the humor of this match. A drop-toe-hold sent Taguchi head-first into his teammates’ groins. Ishimori got an inside cradle for the pin. That was … brutally bad.
Kagetora and Taiji Ishimori defeated Brahman Ryusuke Taguchi, Brahman Shu, and Brahman Kai in a handicap match at 7:25.
3) Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishimori. SO, I never saw a lineup for this show… is Ishimori fighting in every match? Fujita hit some kicks at the bell that sent Ishimori to the floor, and he hit a moonsault onto Taiji. They brawled on the floor. Back in the ring, they traded chops. Ishimori worked over Fujita’s left arm. He applied a Bone Lock on the mat at 5:00, but Fujita reached the ropes with his free arm. Fujita hit a German Suplex. He hit a springboard dropkick for a nearfall at 7:00. Ishimori fired back with a Mafia Kick. Fujita hit a German Suplex with a high bridge for a believable nearfall. Fujita tied up Ishimori’s legs and cranked back on Taiji’s head. However, we have a bell and this ended in a time-limit draw!
Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishimori went to a time-limit draw at 10:00.
4. Taiji Ishimori, Sho, and Shun Skywalker vs. Jeff Cobb, Shuji Ishikawa, and Daisuke Sekimoto. Well, if Ishimori is in every match, he’ll get a breather in a six-man tag. Shun opened against Shuji, who is much taller. Daisuke shook hands with Sho and whipped Sho around. They brawled into the crowd. The ref finally called for the bell.
Taiji Ishimori, Sho, and Shun Skywalker vs. Jeff Cobb, Shuji Ishikawa, and Daisuke Sekimoto went to a draw/double-count at 3:57.
4b. Taiji Ishimori, Sho, and Shun Skywalker vs. Jeff Cobb, Shuji Ishikawa, and Daisuke Sekimoto. Yes, after much arguing on the mic, they are re-starting this match. Sho tried to hide in the back; Cobb carried him on his shoulders back to the ring, then we restarted, with Cobb’s team taking turns bodyslamming Sho. Cobb hit a double clothesline on Shun and Ishimori at 1:30. Shun suplexed Cobb and that got a pop. Cobb hit a Spin Cycle twisting back suplex on Shun. Cobb rolled up Ishimori for the pin. Okay action.
Jeff Cobb, Shuji Ishikawa, and Daisuke Sekimoto defeated Taiji Ishimori, Sho, and Shun Skywalker at 3:32.
5. A 10-man Royal Rumble. I am NOT going to know everyone in this match, and on-screen graphics don’t have English spellings, so I looked up a few guys I didn’t know. Gedo is No. 1 and Dick Togo is No. 2 and they traded punches. Ikuto Hidaka is No. 3; he has lighter brown hair and I’ll compare him to Yoshi-Hashi. Rather than fight, they all put on bandanas. (Why?) Minoru Fujita is No. 4 at 5:30; he wears a patch over his left eye and he has long blond hair. Gedo was tossed for our first elimination. Yoshinobu Kanemaru is No. 5 at 8:00. He worked with Togo as Togo hit a knife-edge chop to Hidaka’s groin. Togo and Fujita were tossed, so we temporarily only have Hidaka and Kanemaru in the ring. Robbie Eagles is No. 6 and he got a huge pop.
Eagle and Hidaka worked together to toss Kanemaru. Eagles tied Hidaka in the Ron Miller Special leglock. (Can someone tap out in this match?) Mazada is No. 7; he is taller, older, and thicker and his name was written in English. He hit a pop-up low blow on Hidaka. Eagles hit a running clothesline to the back of Mazada’s head. Mazada hit a low blow on Eagles. Akito, a younger, thin wrestler with short, dark hair, entered as No. 8 at 15:00, and he tied up Mazada. Akito tossed Mazada. Hidaka also was tossed, so we had just Eagles vs. Akito, and they traded rollups for nearfalls.(Okay, pins are allowed!) They somehow eliminated each other over the top rope to the floor! We have no one left in the ring!
Taiji Ishimori finally arrives as No. 9 at 18:00. He thought he was the winner and was about to start to celebrate, but we have ONE more! Hardcore legend Jun Kasai came to the ring as No. 10. Ishimori did not look pleased with this. Jun grabbed the ref and threw him out of the ring, and Jun’s handpicked ref took his spot. Jun hit a top-rope superplex. He ran the ropes to pick up speed and hit a clothesline for a nearfall at 21:30. He pulled out some cooking skewers and he jabbed them on the top of Ishimori’s head. He hit an Angel’s Wings butterfly faceplant on Taiji, then a top-rope frogsplash for a believable nearfall. He tossed Ishimori over the top rope to the floor to win. Okay match but it was definitely an anticlimactic finish.
Jun Kasai won a 10-man Rumble at 22:57.
6. Taiji Ishimori vs. Dragon Dia. Dia has competed in both NJPW Best of Super Juniors, then in Super Junior Tag League. He’s young and really short at 5’6″ but is actually two inches taller than Ishimori. However, Ishimori is much thicker and visibly stronger. Dia ran the ropes and hit an armdrag as this started at a fast pace. He nailed a flip dive to the floor on Ishimori. Ishimori snapped Dia’s throat across the ropes and was in charge. Ishimori tied him in a pretzel, upside down on his knee at 4:00. Dia hit a huracanrana, then a 619 and a standing moonsault for a nearfall at 6:30.
Dia hit a top-rope twisting huracanrana. Ishimori hit a Lungblower move to the chest and they were both down. Dia hit a DDT at 9:00 and he was fired up. He tied Ishimori in an Octopus Stretch, but Ishimori was able to slam Dia to the mat to escape. They traded forearm strikes while on their knees, then while standing. Ishimori hit a leaping knee to the chin, and they were both down at 11:30. They traded rollups. The ref got bumped and Ishimori immediately hit a pop-up low blow. He applied the Bone Lock. He eventually hit a sideslam for a nearfall, then the Bloody Sunday DDT move for the pin. Entertaining match.
Taiji Ishimori defeated Dragon Dia at 13:46.
Final Thoughts: Ishimori is 41, and at 5’4″, he is giving up height and size in every match. I did not know what this show was as I started it. While we had some cartoonish stuff early on, this was an impressive showing here with Taiji tying up with guys of so many different skill-sets and styles. He had a decent singles match with the Young Lion to open, and the main event would have easily fit well in the BoSJ tournament. Not a must-see show but worth checking out Ishimori’s singles matches against Kosei Fujita and Dragon Dia.
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