KO-D Openweight Championship
On April 16, Sasaki submitted Antonio Honda in a tag team match, capturing his "Right to Challenge Anytime, Anywhere" contract in the process. He cashed in the contract on April 24, surprising Harashima after he had successfully defended the KO-D Openweight Championship against Kazusada Higuchi, and defeated him to win the title for the first time. Already holding the KO-D Tag Team Championship, the win made Sasaki a "double crown" champion. Sasaki lost the KO-D Openweight Championship to Konosuke Takeshita in his second defense on May 29. Afterwards, Sasaki announced he was planning to retire from professional wrestling. After three successful title defenses, Sasaki and Ishikawa lost the KO-D Tag Team Championship to Kai and Ken Ohka on July 3. Afterwards, Sasaki became the leader of the new Damnation stable, which also included Ishikawa, Mad Paulie and Tetsuya Endo. On August 6, Sasaki, Paulie and Endo defeated Shuten-dōji (Kota Umeda, Masahiro Takanashi and Yukio Sakaguchi) in a tournament final to win the vacant KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On September 25, Sasaki and Endo attempted to win another title, but were defeated by Harashima and Yuko Miyamoto in a match for the KO-D Tag Team Championship. On October 9, Sasaki and Endo defeated Harashima and Miyamoto in a rematch to become the new KO-D Tag Team Champions. They lost the title to Konosuke Takeshita and Mike Bailey in their second defense on December 4. On December 11, Damnation also lost the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship in their second defense against Shuten-dōji (Kudo, Masahiro Takanashi and Yukio Sakaguchi). On January 29, 2017, Sasaki received a shot at the KO-D Openweight Championship, but was defeated by Harashima.