Minoru Fujita
Daniels teamed with Kevin Quinn to defeat Danny Dominion and Ace Steele at the NWA's 50th Anniversary show in October 1998 to become the first NWA Midwest Tag Team Champions. He participated in the 3rd Annual ECWA Super 8 Tournament, reaching the finals where he lost to Steve Bradley. After a short stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling he traveled to Japan, where developed his masked persona, Curry Man, and competed in the Masked Man League, finishing third. On December 19, 1999, he defeated Minoru Fujita in Michinoku Pro Wrestling for the British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship. Back in the U.S., he defeated Michael Modest for the APW Worldwide Internet Championship in All Pro Wrestling and won the 4th Annual ECWA Super 8 Tournament. On January 14, 2000, Daniels received a tryout match with World Championship Wrestling, defeating Mikey Henderson. The original idea was for Daniels to portray Vampiro's dark master, Syndrome, but his WCW debut was continually postponed, and he eventually returned to the independent scene. He then won APW's King of the Indies tournament, the WCPW League Championship, and the UPW Heavyweight Championship.