Toru Yano
Marufuji's next appearance for NJPW was on January 4, 2012, at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, where he and Go Shiozaki defeated CHAOS Top Team (Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano) in a tag team match. Marufuji returned to NJPW that August to take part in the 2012 G1 Climax tournament. After a slow start, which saw Marufuji lose two of his first three matches, he bounced back by defeating reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi on August 5 and afterward made a challenge for his title. After four wins and three losses, Marufuji was eliminated from the tournament on August 12, after losing to Toru Yano in his final round-robin match. Following the tournament, Marufuji was named the number one contender to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. On September 23 at Destruction, Marufuji unsuccessfully challenged Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.