Hikaru Sato
Doering was scheduled to return to All Japan at the 2016 Champion Carnival, but was forced to pull out of the tournament after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. On November 27, Doering made an appearance at All Japan's show in Ryōgoku Kokugikan, announcing he would return to the ring in January 2017. His return match took place on January 2, when he, Hikaru Sato and Suwama defeated Jake Lee, Kento Miyahara and Naoya Nomura in a six-man tag team match. In April, Doering made it to the finals of the 2017 Champion Carnival, before losing to Shuji Ishikawa. On July 30, Doering quit Evolution. On October 21, Doering defeated former Evolution partner Suwama to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the second time. he would lose it to Kento Miyahara on March 25, 2018,