Team Championship. In April 2004 El Samurai unmasked willingly for the first time since adopting the character, going by his real name, Osamu Matsuda, for a match against Osamu Nishimura, but it was for one night only. Up until at the end of January 2005, he was unmasked again in a MUGA-style match against Shinsuke Nakamura. Samurai began to slow down in the mid-late 2000s, however, still managed to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag team titles once again, this time with rookie Ryusuke Taguchi. On February 1, 2008, NJPW agreed to let El Samurai leave the company after his contract expired, due to him suffering from many injuries that limited his appearances in late 2007 and early 2008. Freelance (2008–present) On February 17, El Samurai appeared in All Japan Pro Wrestling, aiding Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo by fending off NOSAWA Rongai and MAZADA. On May 8, 2010, El Samurai returned to New Japan to take part in the tournament contested for the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. El Samurai and his partner, former rival Koji Kanemoto, advanced to the finals of the tournament, where they defeated the team of Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi to win the titles. On July 19, Kanemoto and El Samurai lost the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to Devitt and Taguchi. Championships and accomplishments Michinoku Pro Wrestling British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) New Japan Pro-Wrestling IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times) IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Jushin Thunder Liger (1), Ryusuke Taguchi (1) and Koji Kanemoto (1) J-Crown (1 time) NWA World Welterweight Championship (1 time) UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times) WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times) Best of the Super Juniors (1997) DREAM* Win Junior Tag Team Tournament (2002) – with Gedo G1 Climax Junior Heavyweight Tag League (2001) – Jushin Thunder Liger One Night's Captain's Fall Tournament (1994) – with Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada and Shinjiro Ohtani Super J Tag Tournament (2010) – with Koji Kanemoto Pro Wrestling Illustrated Ranked No. 75 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1996 Ranked No. 210 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003 Ranked No. 47 of the top 100 tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Jushin Liger in 2003 Social Pro Wrestling Federation One Night Junior Heavyweight Tournament (1994)