Taiyō Kea
He returned to New Japan in 1998 and teamed with Shinya Hashimoto in the struggle against NWO Japan's Keiji Mutoh and Masahiro Chono, who held the IWGP Tag Team Championship, but they were unsuccessful. Nishimura also failed to unseat IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki, and Nishimura was diagnosed with cancer later in the year. Nishimura was inactive until the cancer went into remission in 2000, following treatment. In 2001, he went to the United States again to polish his skills at the Funking Conservatory in Florida, under the eye of Dory Funk, Jr. (whom Nishimura admired from watching matches of New Japan's founder Antonio Inoki). He blossomed again, winning the FC's United States Championship. After returning to Japan, Nishimura's star was bright enough to warrant an earnest push, and he won the IWGP tag team titles with Fujinami. Nonetheless, the bi-promotional duo of Mutoh and All Japan Pro Wrestling's Taiyō Kea were on the rise, and the two teams clashed over both the IWGP title and AJPW's World Tag Team Championship, both of which ended up around the waists of Mutoh and Kea.