Wataru Inoue
On April 29, 2008, Taguchi faced his former partner and generation rival, Hirooki Goto, who had since graduated to the heavyweight division. The match, which took place in Goto's hometown of Kuwana, was won by Goto in just under 15 minutes. In June of that year, Taguchi once again entered the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, finishing in first place for his six-man block with eight points, losing only to Tatsuhito Takaiwa in a rematch of their April meeting, and defeating the man who won the Junior title from him, Wataru Inoue. Taguchi advanced to the semifinals as a result, losing to Koji Kanemoto.