Takeshi Rikio
From March 29 to April 27, 2008, Saito and partner Bison Smith featured in NOAH's inaugural Global Tag League. The pair ultimately won the tournament defeating Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa in the final. As a result, the duo became number one contenders and on May 23, 2008, Saito and Smith defeated Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura to win the GHC Tag Team Titles. The pair's first championship defense came five months later where the two defeated Jun Akiyama and Takeshi Rikio. On November 28 the pair made their second defense against Akira Taue and Takeshi Morishima. Shortly thereafter, Saito received a title opportunity against GHC Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki, however on December 7, Saito lost that title match. To finish the year, Saito won a two-night tournament simply named 'The Tournament' where he wrestled five matches with ten-minute time limits in the two nights with the result decided by judges if the time limit was reached. Saito defeated Masao Inoue in the final where the judges ruled in his favor 5-0.