中西学
On July 2, 2006, Makabe teamed with Shiro Koshinaka in a one-night tournament to crown the interim IWGP Tag Team Champions, after primary champions Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan became inactive. The duo defeated the teams of Yuji Nagata and Naofumi Yamamoto and Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko to win the interim title; the reign would be short-lived however, as Koshinaka and Makabe would lose the title to Manabu Nakanishi and Takao Omori just 15 days later.