in his first round match. Prior to the match, Honma expressed interest in joining Hiroyoshi Tenzan's GBH faction, and was allowed to join after making a positive impression on Tenzan; however, Tenzan became disenchanted with Honma's difficulty in gaining victories, so he forced Honma to pass through a trial series to prove that he belongs in GBH. After ending his trial series with a losing record, Honma was initially kicked out of GBH but was allowed to remain in the group, after Togi Makabe took over the group's leadership. In April 2009, Honma showed his loyalty to Makabe by remaining in GBH after the other members of the group left to form the Chaos faction with Shinsuke Nakamura. On December 23, 2011, Honma received a rare championship opportunity, when he challenged for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in the main event of a NJPW show at Korakuen Hall, losing to champion Masato Tanaka at the end of a 23 minute bout. On March 28, 2012, New Japan announced that the promotion had released Honma from his contract due to a "personal problem". Following his release from NJPW, Honma returned to AJPW on September 8, 2012, where he remained for the rest of the year and much of early 2013. In March 2013, Honma began appearing in Pro Wrestling Noah, where he took part in the 2013 Global Tag League with Akitoshi Saito. The duo finished the tournament with one win and two points. Return and injury (2013–2017) On March 23, 2013, Honma returned to NJPW, saving Togi Makabe from Chaos. It was later revealed that Honma would be working for NJPW full-time as a freelancer. The reunited GBH had their first match back together on April 7 at Invasion Attack, where they were defeated by Masato Tanaka and Yujiro Takahashi in a tag team match. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013, Honma unsuccessfully challenged Tanaka for the NEVER Openweight Championship. Honma received another shot at the title a year later at Wrestling Dontaku 2014, but was again defeated by the defending champion, Tomohiro Ishii. From July 21 to August 8, 2014, Honma took part in his first G1 Climax as a late replacement for an injured Kota Ibushi, losing all ten of his matches and finishing last in his block. Honma's struggle in the tournament made him one of the most popular wrestlers in all of NJPW, creating a movement