Naomichi Marufuji Becomes Grand Slam Champion After GHC National Title Win at NOAH LEGACY RISE 2026

By: Ian McCord

On May 5th, Naomichi Marufuji made history in Pro Wrestling NOAH by becoming the promotion’s first-ever Grand Slam champion after defeating Alpha Wolf for the GHC National Title at at NOAH’s LEGACY RISE 2026 in Korakuen Hall.

Naomichi Marufuji, who’s been with NOAH for 26 years, has done it all for the promotion except win the GHC National Title. The Genius of the Ark is a four time GHC Heavyweight Champion, ten time GHC Tag Team Champion, two time GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Champion, and has held both the GHC Jr. Heavyweight and GHC Hardcore Openweight Championships.

In the main event of NOAH’s LEGACY RISE 2026, Marufuji challenged Alpha Wolf for the GHC National Title for the first time in his career, in front of 1,302 fans at Korakuen Hall.

Even with TEAM 2000X’s ringside shenanigans, Alpha Wolf was unable to secure his second successful defense of the National Title, falling victim to Marufuji’s Perfect Necklock submission at (24:17).

After the match, TEAM 2000X’s Tadasuke stepped up as the first challenger for Marufuji’s National Championship, with a match between the two made official for May 17th in Nagoya.

Marufuji would address the crowd after winning the Red Belt and being challenged by Tadasuke, stating that this “New Marufuji” will use the National Championship to bring NOAH in a new direction and dismiss any opinions that he is no longer a high-level performer.

From Naomichi Marufuji:

“But you know, in recent years, there’s been this vibe that Marufuji isn’t really in the top tier anymore. From now on, ‘The New Marufuji’ will use this National Championship belt to take NOAH in a whole new direction and get the crowd fired up. So please forgive Tadasuke. For now, I’ll give him a shot.”

(English Translation via DeepL)

Elsewhere on the card, Kaito Kiyomiya and Masa Kitamiya faced off in a Dissolution vs. Hair Match. If Masa Kitamiya were to win, Kiyomiya’s unit All Rebellion would be forced to disband. However, if Kiyomiya won, then Masa Kitamiya would be forced to shave his head.

It would be Kaito Kiyomiya walking away with his head held high and his unit still intact after defeating Masa Kitamiya with his Skywalker Elbow for the win in (17:47), forcing Masa Kitamiya to get his hair cut in front of the Korakuen crowd.

Here are the full results from NOAH’s LEGACY RISE 2026 on May 5th courtesy of purolove.com:

• Kenoh & AMAKUSA defeat Eita & Black Menso~re (5:41) following Kenoh’s P.F.S. on Menso~re.
• Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & RYUSEI defeat Yuto Koyanagi, Hiroto Tsuruya & Midori Takahashi (6:35) following BUSHI’s Crab Hold on Koyanagi.
• Manabu Soya, Yuki Iino, Daiki Odashima & Super Crazy defeat Kazuyuki Fujita, Mohammed Yone, Atsushi Kotoge & Hajime Ohara (8:32) following Soya’s Passion IS against Ohara.
• Yoshiki Inamura, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II defeat OZAWA, Takashi Sugiura, Knull, Tadasuke & Jun Masaoka (9:25) following a Muso by Inamura on Masaoka.
• Shane Haste & Tetsuya Endo defeat KENTA & Katsumi Inahata (10:51) following a Lariat by Haste against Inahata.
• Dissolution vs. Hair Match: Kaito Kiyomiya defeats Masa Kitamiya (17:47) with a Skywalk Elbow.
• GHC National Title: Naomichi Marufuji defeats Alpha Wolf (c) (24:17) via referee stoppage (Perfect Necklock) – Title change (Failed 2nd defense -> 20th Champion).