菊地毅
Sasaki returned to NJPW on February 24 at "NEVER．5", where he was defeated by Ryusuke Taguchi. On April 7 at "", Sasaki picked up his first NJPW win, when he defeated Shinichiro Tominaga in the first round of the Road to the Super Jr. 2Days Tournament. The following day, Sasaki first defeated Ryuichi Sekine in the semifinals and then Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in the finals to win the tournament and earn a spot in the 2011 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. On April 19 at "New Japan Brave 2011", Sasaki wrestled on his first NJPW main card match, when he teamed with fellow DDT workers Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi to defeat Kushida, Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi in a six-man tag team match. On May 26, Sasaki entered the 2011 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. When the tournament ended two weeks later, Sasaki finished last in his round-robin block, having lost seven matches and picked up his only win against Gedo.