 The alliance with the Sailor Boys lasted until mid-year, when Shanao formed a tag team with Rasse.He also had a brief tenure in the "Tetsujin Tournament", but he was forced to forfeit most of his matches due to an injury.Shanao returned on September 10 in a losing effort to Takeshi Minamino, but he got his revenge the same night, defeating Minamino and Los Salseros Japoneses along with Kagetora, Gaina and Hayato Fujita.