Atsushi Aoki
On December 3, 2012, the "Tokyo Sports" newspaper reported that Pro Wrestling Noah had decided to terminate the contract of Kenta Kobashi, who had suffered various injuries the past years and was at the time again sidelined from in-ring action. "Tokyo Sports" also reported that the termination led to a backlash from Noah wrestlers with Atsushi Aoki, Go Shiozaki, Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru announcing that they were not going to re-sign with Noah, when their contracts with the promotion ran out at the end of the year. Noah president Akira Taue responded to the report, announcing that Kobashi would address his situation at Ryōgoku Kokugikan on December 9, while also confirming that the promotion was in negotiations with five wrestlers whose contracts were set to expire shortly. On December 9, Kobashi announced that he would wrestle one more match and retire in a Noah ring sometime during 2013. On December 19, Noah announced that the negotiations with Atsushi Aoki, Go Shiozaki, Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru had ended and all five men would leave the promotion following December 24. After parting ways with Noah, the five men made an unadvertised appearance for AJPW on January 26, 2013, announcing that they had joined the promotion, forming the third incarnation of the Burning stable. Though essentially working exclusively for AJPW, the five were officially freelancers. The five quickly laid claim to All Japan's top titles.