Masayuki Kono
On September 22, Kai entered a tournament to crown the first Wrestle-1 Champion, defeating Manabu Soya in his first round match. The following day, Kai defeated Minoru Tanaka to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. On October 8, Kai defeated Shuji Kondo in the semifinals to advance to the finals of the tournament, where, later that same day, he was defeated by Masayuki Kono. On November 15, Kai entered the First Tag League Greatest tournament, set to determine the inaugural Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions, alongside Ryota Hama under the team name Akatenrou ("Red Sirius"). After losing their opening match against Hiroshi Yamato and Seiya Sanada, Akatenrou came back to win their three other matches, winning their block and advancing to the semifinals. On November 30, Akatenrou was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by the eventual tournament winners, Team 246 (Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo).