is a Japanese professional wrestler, wrestling executive, and restaurateur. He is signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where is the vice-president of CyberFight, the parent company of Noah (a role he has held since 2020). Known as , Marufuji is the current GHC National Champion in his first reign and former four-time GHC Heavyweight Champion, as well as the first of two men to win Junior Heavyweight Championships in all three major Japanese promotions (Minoru Tanaka is the other). Marufuji is widely referred to as one of the most influential professional wrestlers of the modern era, inspiring many international and national wrestlers such as Seth Rollins, Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, and others; his notes as an influential wrestler have garnered him the nickname "The Mastermind Behind Modern Wrestling".
Marufuji made his wrestling debut in 1998 as part of All Japan Pro Wrestling and its dojo; after the 2000 Exodus, he joined his only surviving trainer and mentor, Mitsuharu Misawa, to join Pro Wrestling Noah, a promotion he has worked for consistently since its founding. He, along with Takashi Sugiura, are the only two members of the Noah roster who have remained in the company since its founding. After a successful run as a junior heavyweight wrestler in his early Noah run, he advanced to the heavyweight division, quickly winning the GHC Heavyweight Championship in an upset win against Jun Akiyama. He lost the title of Misawa later on, yet stayed as both as heavyweight and junior heavyweight wrestler. In May 2026, he won the GHC National Championship, becoming the first and only wrestler to win every single title in both the heavyweight and junior heavyweight divisions in Pro Wrestling Noah, and with that achievement, becoming the promotions first ever Grand Slam Champion.
Early life & career (before 2000) Naomichi Marufuji was born the youngest of four siblings on September 26, 1979. Originally, his name was supposed to be Masao or Masamichi, but was changed to . His brothers include Kimiyasu (b. 1972) and twins and Fumitaka (b. 1973). Hirotaka Marufuji later became an animator and was part of the team behind Genesis of Aquarion and the Macross series. His eldest brother, Kimiyasu, was an avid wrestling fan, and showed Marufuji wrestling magazines when he was younger (Marufuji's favorite wrestlers that he saw in the magazines were the Road Warriors). He became a fan of New Japan's Three Musketeers as he got older, yet also idolized Mitsuharu Misawa.
As he had aspired to become a full-time professional wrestler after graduating high school, he enlisted into his junior high school's amateur wrestling program whilst also doing basketball. One of the senior members of that program, Ryuji Hijikata, later also became a professional wrestler. He first received post-curricular martial arts training at Satoru Sayama's Super Tiger Gym near Higashi-Ōmiya Station in Saitama.
Mitsuharu Misawa gave Marufuji an opportunity to train at the All Japan Pro Wrestling dojo via phone, which he accepted. After a week of training, Marufuji was accepted as a full-time rookie wrestler. He became part of the class also consisting of Kentaro Shiga, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Takeshi Morishima and Makoto Hashi. For the first two years of his career, under Giant Baba and Mitsuharu Misawa's isolationist policy, he was a jobber. His debut match came on August 28, 1998, against Kanemaru. One of the few rare interpromotional matches he worked was in Michinoku Pro Wrestling in 1999, a lucha libre six-man tag match, gave him a chance to shine.
Professional wrestling career (2000–present)
Pro Wrestling Noah (2000–present) After the Noah secession, he joined the upstart promotion and became an integral part of its Junior Heavyweight division, impressing many with his high-flying style and charisma. He would go on to form a successful tag team with KENTA and win the 2004 Super J-Cup. In early and mid-2005, Marufuji toured through Germany and Austria, competing for Westside Xtreme Wrestling and Rings of Europe. Along with Minoru Suzuki, they were the first talent delegation that was sent over that began the Noah/European Talent Trade Partnership. On March 5, 2006, Marufuji pinned former Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and former GHC Heavyweight Champion Akira Taue.
On September 9, 2006, Naomichi defeated Jun Akiyama for the GHC Heavyweight Championship at the Budokan Hall, utilizing the Perfect Inside Cradle. In doing so, he became the first wrestler to win all five GHC titles in Noah and became the lightest GHC Heavyweight Champion of all time. A little over a month later, Marufuji's successfully defended the title against his tag team partner Kenta on October 29, 2006. The match received critical acclaim, and Tokyo Sports named the match the 2006 Match of the Year. On December 10, 2006, Marufuji lost the GHC Heavyweight Championship to Mitsuharu Misawa in his third defense.
On July 5, 2009, Marufuji was appointed to the position of Noah's vice president alongside Kenta Kobashi by Noah's current President, Akira Taue, in the wake of Misawa's death.
On July 5, 2014, Marufuji won the GHC Heavyweight Championship for the second time, defeating Yuji Nagata. That same month he defended the championship against BRAVE stablemate Katsuhiko Nakajima on July 21. He then defeated Takeshi Morishima on August 24 in his second title defense at Korakuen Hall. That same night, Maybach Taniguchi won a number one contenders match over Nakajima and the two men squared off on September 23 at the 'Great Voyage in Niigata' show where Marufuji successfully retained his championship. Shortly after, he retained the championship for a fourth time by defeating Daisuke Sekimoto of Big Japan Pro Wrestling at the 'Great Voyage in Yokohama' show on October 23. Marufuji then, still as champion, took part in the 2014 Global League. Marufuji finished with eight points and a four-win, three-loss record, including losses to Nakajima, Morishima, and Satoshi Kojima. Marufuji defeated the Global League winner Takashi Sugiura on December 6 at the 'Great Voyage in Tokyo vol.3' show. Following Marufuji's appearance on Wrestle Kingdom 9, the New Japan stable Suzuki-gun made their debut in Noah invading the company and on March 15, 2015, Marufuji lost his title to the stable's leader Minoru Suzuki.
Marufuji took part in the 2015 Global Tag League with Katsuhiko Nakajima as his partner. The pair finished with six points and a disappointing fourth-place finish in the six-team block. However, at 'Great Voyage in Yokohama' on May 10, Marufuji received a rematch with Suzuki for the championship. Marufuji, however, ultimately came up short in his attempt to dethrone the Suzuki-gun leader. Marufuji continued the year outside of the title picture taking part in tag team matches squaring off with Suzuki-gun foes, however at the September 19 'Great Voyage in Osaka' show Marufuji defeated BRAVE stablemate Atsushi Kotoge. Marufuji then took part in the 2015 Global League. Marufuji began the tournament with four straight victories, however a loss to Masato Tanaka on October 29 and a subsequent loss to Satoshi Kojima at the next show on November 3 put Marufuji in a four-way tie on points at the top of his block. On the final group stage day, paired with a loss by Tanaka, Marufuji beat fellow co-first place contender Chris Hero to win the block and advance to the final on November 8. In the final, Marufuji defeated fellow Suzuki-gun member Shelton Benjamin who had finished his block without a single loss to go on and receive a championship opportunity. Marufuji received his title match at the DESTINY 2015 show and he regained the title from Suzuki on December 23, 2015. However, immediately following the match as his Noah roster members celebrated with him, Takashi Sugiura turned on Marufuji to join forces with Suzuki-gun.
On January 31, 2016, Marufuji faltered in his first defense of his newly won championship as he lost the title to Takashi Sugiura. The next month, on February 19, Marufuji took part in a ten-man tag team match that pitted Suzuki-gun members against Noah roster members. Marufuji was the second to last person eliminated being pinned by Sugiura. On March 19, 2016, Marufuji continued to battle against the Suzuki-gun stable that had invaded Noah as he alongside Muhammad Yone and Mitsuhiro Kitamiya defeated Shelton Benjamin, Takashi Iizuka, and Suzuki himself in a six-man tag team match the 2016 'Great Voyage In Korakuen' event.
From April 21 to May 4, Marufuji took part in the 2016 Global Tag League with Toru Yano, who took part despite being mainly a competitor in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The pair got eight points, good enough for second in the block, and ultimately avenged a loss by defeating Killer Elite Squad in the finals. As a result of winning the tag league, the duo won a shot at the GHC Tag Team Championships held by Killer Elite Squad. On May 28 at the 2016 'Great Voyage In Osaka' event, the pair defeated Killer Elite Squad and became the new GHC Tag Team Champions. The pair's first match as champions was an immediate title defense over the former champions at 'Emerald Spirits In Korakuen' on June 12. The pair defended their championships twice more before Marufuji went to New Japan to take part in the 2016 G1 Climax. They defeated Suzuki and Iizuka on July 5 followed by a defense over Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kitamiya on July 16.
Upon Marufuji's return, he and Yano defended their belts against the team of Muhammad Yone and Quiet Storm, known as '50 Funky Powers', on September 23 and, as a continuation of his feud based in New Japan with Kazuchika Okada, Marufuji and Yano retained their championships over Okada and Chaos stablemate Yoshi-Hashi on October 8. The pair defended their belts yet again on October 23 at 'Great Voyage 2016 In Yokohama Vol. 2' where they defeated Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) From November 3 to November 22 Marufuji took part in the 2016 Global League and was placed in the 'B' block. Marufuji, with eight points, faced off with Masa Kitamiya on the final day's main event and a spot in the tournament final on the line, however, Marufuji ultimately lost and Kitamiya finished first in the B block. The next day, the day of the Global League Final, Marufuji and Yano lost their championships to Killer Elite Squad, the team they defeated for the belts six months prior and thus marking the end of the team. The final tour of 2016 went poorly for Marufuji as he and his various partners were unable to beat the team of Alejandro Saez and Takashi Sugiura the entire tour and, on the final show of 2016, Marufuji was defeated in a singles match by Sugiura.