Masato Tanaka
The following month, Hayabusa won a tournament by defeating Masato Tanaka, Jado and The Gladiator to become the #1 contender for his rival Mr. Gannosuke's FMW Double Championship, the unified Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship and the Independent Heavyweight Championship. On April 17, Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka defeated Hido and Kodo Fuyuki to win the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. On April 30, Hayabusa defeated Mr. Gannosuke to win the Double Titles Championship at FMW's first pay-per-view 9th Anniversary Show: Entertainment Wrestling Live. Immediately after the title win, Hayabusa appeared at AJPW's twenty-fifth anniversary show Showdown at the Egg, where he teamed with AJPW owner Giant Baba and Kentaro Shiga against Jinsei Shinzaki, Jun Izumida and Giant Kimala. Hayabusa got the win for his team by pinning Izumida. Hayabusa made his first title defense of the Double Championship against his tag team championship partner Masato Tanaka on May 19, where Hayabusa retained the title. The match between the two earned critical acclaim and is highly regarded as the best match of Ezaki's career. On May 27, Hayabusa and Tanaka lost the Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship to Kodo Fuyuki and Yukihiro Kanemura.