on the October 7 episode of Superstars after a match between Archer and Chris Masters. Archer accidentally struck Hawkins outside the ring, after which the two argued and a distracted Archer lost the match. Afterwards, Hawkins assaulted Archer. Archer returned to singles competition on the November 4 edition of Superstars, losing to Luke Gallows. On November 19, 2010, Archer was released from his contract along with five other wrestlers. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2011–2015) On May 15, 2011, Hoyt made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, during the promotion's first-ever tour of the United States, attacking Satoshi Kojima after a match. The following day it was announced that Hoyt, under the ring name Lance Archer, had joined Minoru Suzuki's Suzuki-gun, who had recently begun feuding with Kojima. Archer made his in-ring debut on June 18 at Dominion 6.18 in Osaka, teaming with Suzuki in a tag team match, where they defeated Kojima and Togi Makabe. Three days later, the Suzuki-gun team of Archer, Taichi and Taka Michinoku was eliminated from the J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament in the first round by Kojima, Makabe and Tomoaki Honma. In August, Archer took part in the 2011 G1 Climax, where he managed to win four out of his nine matches, including defeating former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Togi Makabe in his opening match, finishing eighth out of the ten wrestlers in his block. Archer had his to date highest profile match in New Japan on September 19, when he was defeated by Togi Makabe. In the 2011 G1 Tag League, Archer teamed with Minoru Suzuki and, after four wins and one loss, the team finished second in their block, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On November 6, Archer and Suzuki first defeated the CHAOS Top Team (Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano) in the semifinals and then IWGP Tag Team Champions Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson) in the finals to win the 2011 G1 Tag League. On November 12 at Power Struggle, Archer and Suzuki failed in their attempt to capture the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Bad Intentions. On February 12, 2012, at The New Beginning, Archer, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Taka Michinoku and Yoshihiro Takayama of the Suzuki-gun took a dominant 5–1 win over Kushida, Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe, Wataru Inoue and Yuji Nagata in a ten-man elimination tag team match, with Archer scoring eliminations over Kushida, Tiger