Ryota Hama
On 4 December 2015, Akebono announced he was forming a new company named Ōdō. He would serve as its president with the backing of Motoko Baba, the widow of All Japan founder Giant Baba. On 13 March 2016, Akebono made his debut for AJPW splinter promotion Wrestle-1, reuniting with SMOP partner Ryota Hama. Ōdō held its first event on 20 April in Korakuen Hall. The main event of the show saw Akebono, Ryota Hama and Taiyo Kea defeat Daisuke Sekimoto, Masato Tanaka and Yuji Okabayashi. In early June, Akebono took part in the Lucha Libre World Cup in Mexico. On 16 September, Ōdō formed a partnership with Pro Wrestling Zero1.