the IWGP Tag Team League of that year, with both men finishing 4th place with 19 points, defeating the Kelly Twins (Mike and Pat), Dos Caras and El Canek, and Kendo Nagasaki and Mr. Pogo. In 1986, Murdoch started to feud with the new breed of wrestlers, such as Keiji Mutoh, Shinya Hashimoto, Tatsutoshi Goto and UWF crusaders Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada, as well as veterans like Osamu Kido and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Murdoch participated in the IWGP League of that year, wrestling his way to the finals, where he lost to Inoki. Later, he and Masked Superstar took another shot at the IWGP Tag Team League tournament, reaching the semifinals where they lost to Akira Maeda and Osamu Kido. The following year saw Murdoch not having much exposure, as he was wrestling often in tag team action alongside younger foreign wrestlers, such as Scott Hall, Owen Hart, Matt Borne and The Cuban Assassin. Later, he found an uncommon tag team partnership with Inoki as both men competed in the Japan Cup Tag Team League together. They wrestled their way to the finals, where both men lost to Kengo Kimura and Tatsumi Fujinami. In 1988, Adrian Adonis returned to NJPW, immediately reuniting with Murdoch, reforming their tag team, and later forming a trio with Owen Hart. Murdoch and Adonis' only title match occurred on June 23, where they unsuccessfully faced reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions Masa Saito and Riki Choshu. The duo teamed together until Adonis' death on July 4, and after that date, Murdoch would not return to Japan for 5 months. In November 1988, Murdoch returned to NJPW, taking part into the Japan Cup Tag Team Elimination League, a round-robin tournament of trios consisting of six-man tag team elimination matches. Murdoch teamed up with Scott Hall and Bob Orton Jr., wrestling their first tournament match on November 17, defeating the six-man combination of Antonio Inoki, Riki Choshu and Kantaro Hoshino, with Murdoch last eliminating Inoki with Orton's assistance. They suffered their first loss at the hands of Masa Saito, Tatsutoshi Goto and Seiji Sakaguchi, but quickly rebounded by defeating Super Strong Machine, The Tiger and The Jaguar, with Murdoch last eliminating the Strong Machine. They later defeated Kengo Kimura, Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Osamu Kido, even though Murdoch got eliminated by Kimura during the match, his team got the win after Orton last eliminated Fujiwara. Their winning streak continued when