Ryota Hama
On March 30, 2016, Wrestle-1 held a show to celebrate the conclusion of the first term of the Puroresu Sōgō Gakuin, while also announcing the graduation of Hana Kimura, Jun Tonsho, Reika Saiki and Seigo Tachibana. With two women graduating from the class, Keiji Mutoh teased the possibility of starting a women's division in Wrestle-1. On May 4, AJPW president Jun Akiyama made a surprise appearance for Wrestle-1, facing off with Keiji Mutoh with the two agreeing to a tag team match against each other on August 11. On June 28, Wrestle-1 announced that Akira, Minoru Tanaka, Ryota Hama, Tajiri and Yasufumi Nakanoue would all be leaving the promotion following the expiration of their contracts two days later. On August 11, Wrestle-1 presented an interpromotional six-man tag team match, which saw AJPW president Jun Akiyama take on former AJPW president Keiji Mutoh. In the match, the AJPW trio of Akiyama, Naoya Nomura and Yuma Aoyagi was victorious over the Wrestle-1 trio of Mutoh, Koji Doi and Kumagoro. On August 31, Kazma Sakamoto also left Wrestle-1 following the expiration of his contract. On September 18, Wrestle-1 announced a new sub-promotion Pro-Wrestling A.C.E. (Academy, Challenge, Entertainment), which was made up of rookies from their wrestling school. On December 20, Kai announced he would be leaving Wrestle-1 and becoming a freelancer at the end of the year.