Marufuji & Ishimori teaming at Impact’s Slammiversary PPV

Additional notes added by Dave Meltzer

Pro Wrestling NOAH will be represented at Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary pay-per-view on Sunday night.

Impact announced today that NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji & Taiji Ishimori will be involved in the four-way match for the Impact/GFW Tag Team Championship at Slammiversary. That match features champions LAX (Ortiz & Santana) defending against Marufuji & Ishimori, AAA’s Drago & El Hijo del Fantasma, and Laredo Kid & Garza Jr.

Along with AAA and The Crash, NOAH is one of the international promotions that Impact has a working relationship with. The story is that it is a four-way match with teams from four different companies, to emphasize Impact’s various business partnerships around the world. Laredo Kid & Garza Jr. are Impact regulars from The Crash.

Speculation about Marufuji being involved with Slammiversary began when he was booked in a match for Michael Elgin’s Glory Pro in Belleville, Illinois on July 9th, meaning that he would be in the United States around the time of the PPV.

Marufuji has long been one of the top stars in NOAH. He’s made appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling in the past as well, with his most recent run including an appearance in last summer’s G1 Climax and an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match against Kazuchika Okada at King of Pro Wrestling 2016.

He’s the only man to have held the IWGP, All Japan, and GHC Junior Heavyweight titles and is considered a master of timing as to when to do moves.

Ishimori has been a longtime standout in NOAH’s junior heavyweight division. He also teamed with ACH in NJPW’s junior tag team tournament last year while the companies were involved with one another.

Ishimori is one of the most underrated wrestlers in the profession. He’s a great worker who unfortunately hasn’t gotten his due because of NOAH’s lower profile in recent years.

As was noted previously, the teams in the match are interesting politically given that Konnan is the booker for The Crash in Mexico and is the leader of LAX. The Crash and AAA are rival promotions and Konnan had stated previously that he wouldn’t work with people from AAA.

Slammiversary takes place in Orlando with Bobby Lashley vs. Alberto El Patron to unify the Impact and GFW titles as the main event, with King Mo in Lashley’s corner and Dos Caras, the father of Alberto and a Hall of Fame wrestler, in Alberto’s corner.