Shinya Makabe, Toru Yano and Yutaka Yoshie, but later losing to Josh Barnett in a singles match. Face turn and team with Naruse (2004–2006) After the Makai Club broke up in the summer of 2004, Nagai began a face turn, returning to AJPW for one night only on July 22 where he lost to his mentor Toshiaki Kawada. It was also during this time that he aligned himself with fellow Rings alumni Masayuki Naruse, with the two unsuccessfully challenging Genichiro Tenryu and Masanobu Fuchi for the All Asia Tag Team Championship on July 26. Around this time, Nagai joined Black New Japan while keeping his team with Naruse, which caused friction between them. On November 3 at Masahiro Chono's 20th Anniversary Show, they challenged once again, this time beating Fuchi and Tenryu to win the titles. He also returned to AJPW in December, teaming with Kawada for the Real World Tag League. They made it to the playoffs, where a loss to a RO&D (Jamal and Taiyo Kea) stopped them from reaching the final. After dropping the All Asia belts in February, Nagai suffered an injury competing against Naruse in March which would keep him out of action for the rest of 2005. In January 2006, Nagai was one of a number of New Japan wrestlers who opted not to renew their contracts with the promotion and became a freelancer. Freelancing (2006–present) After leaving New Japan, Nagai debuted for Dramatic Dream Team (DDT), choosing a lighter schedule in a comedy promotion which would allow his injury to heal at a quicker rate. He aligned himself with Poison Sawada Julie's Serpent Council in late 2006, and also began competing for Tatsumi Fujinami's Muga World Pro Wrestling around this time. It was in MUGA Nagai would find his new home, competing regularly for the next few years while also making occasional appearances in DDT and various shoot style promotions such as Battlarts and Daisuke Ikeda's Fu-Ten. In February 2009, he wrestled Canadian wrestler Test in what would be Test's last match before he died the following month. In September 2010, he beat Alexander Otsuka to win Real Japan Pro Wrestling (RJPW)'s Legend Championship. He held the title for nearly a year before dropping it to Super Tiger in July 2011. Nagai won it back from Tiger in March 2012, and again dropped it to Tiger in December. In January 2014, Nagai's appearances