 On June 26, he defeated Kenoh in a rematch to make his third successful defense.After the match, he issued a challenge to Go Shiozaki, who had pinned him in a tag match two weeks earlier, which he accepted.They would face off yet again on August 18 in Kawasaki, where he defeated Shiozaki to make his fourth successful defense and was afterwards challenged to a title match by Masa Kitamiya, who he would defeat on September 2 to make his fifth successful defense.