but were defeated by the Time Splitters. On November 8 at Power Struggle, Taichi received a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by Ryusuke Taguchi. Heavyweight Division (2018-Present) On March 6, Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeated Roppongi Vice to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. They lost the title back to Roppongi Vice in their second defense on April 27. The following month, Taichi took part in the 2017 Best of the Super Juniors, where he finished with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals. On January 23, 2018 at TakaTaichiMania, Taichi announced he was moving up to New Japan's heavyweight division. On March 6, 2018 NJPW's 46th anniversary show, Taichi made his heavyweight debut against Tetsuya Naito, where Naito was victorious On March 10, Taichi made his New Japan Cup debut against Hiroshi Tanahashi in the first round, but was defeated by Tanahashi, failing to advance. On April 27, Taichi would start a feud with NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, and would repeatedly demand to face Goto for the NEVER Openweight Championship in a singles match. Taichi received his shot in a three-way match for the NEVER Openweight Championship which took place at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-Jo Hall, where Taichi faced Goto and Michael Elgin, who had also challenged for the title, but was unsuccessful after being pinned by Elgin. At the final day of G1 Climax 28, a returning Taichi (who was not a participant in the tournament) issued a challenge to the NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto for a singles rematch for the title, which Goto accepted. The match took place on September 17 at Destruction in Beppu, where Taichi defeated Goto to become the new NEVER Openweight champion. On November 3 at Power Struggle, Taichi lost the NEVER Openweight championship back to Goto in a rematch, ending his reign at 47 days From November 17 to December 9, Taichi teamed with fellow Suzuki-Gun member Zack Sabre Jr for the 2018 World Tag League, his first entry into the tournament. The duo finished with 8 wins and 5 losses, failing to secure a spot in the finals. On January 5, 2019 at New Years Dash, Taichi pinned the IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito in a ten-man tag team match between Suzuki-gun and Los Ingobernables de Japón, and challenging Naito for the title immediately