IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Back in NJPW, Suzuki-gun, K.E.S. included, entered a storyline rivalry with the Chaos stable. On February 10 at The New Beginning, K.E.S. retained the IWGP Tag Team Championship against Tencozy, after which Archer challenged Chaos' Shinsuke Nakamura to a match for his IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Archer went on to fail in his title challenge on March 3 at New Japan's 41st anniversary event. The rivalry between Suzuki-gun and Chaos continued during the 2013 New Japan Cup with Archer being eliminated in the first round by Kazuchika Okada, while Smith eliminated Nakamura in his first round match. After defeating another Chaos member, Yujiro Takahashi, in the second round, Smith was eventually eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Hirooki Goto. On April 5, K.E.S. made their fourth successful defense of the IWGP Tag Team Championship against Chaos representatives Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii. Two days later at Invasion Attack, Smith unsuccessfully challenged Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in a rematch of their New Japan Cup bout.