 On December 6, 2009, Sugiura pinned Go Shiozaki to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship.On January 4, 2010, at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome Sugiura successfully defended the title against Hirooki Goto.On 28 February,he retained his title against Togi Makabe and then on 10 July against Yoshihiro Takayama.On October 1, 2010, Sugiura travelled to Tamaulipas, Mexico to defend the GHC Heavyweight Championship, defeating Chessman at Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) event Héroes Inmortales IV.