IWGP Heavyweight Championship
In March 2009 Goto defeated Karl Anderson, Shinsuke Nakamura, Yuji Nagata and Giant Bernard to win the 2009 New Japan Cup and earn a shot at Hiroshi Tanahashi's IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On May 3, 2009, at Wrestling Dontaku 2009, Tanahashi defeated Goto to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.