Naomichi Marufuji
Kenta made his in-ring return on July 22, 2012, losing to Naomichi Marufuji. On October 8, Kenta and Maybach Taniguchi defeated Magnus and Samoa Joe to win the GHC Tag Team Championship for the first time. However, they lost the title to Akitoshi Saito and Go Shiozaki just eighteen days later. On November 23, Kenta won the 2012 Global League.