 In 1983, Momota then took part in the Lou Thesz Cup tournament placing fourth place

His first title victory came on April 20, 1989 where he won the World Junior Heavyweight Championship defeating Shinichi Nakano.He would hold the title for over 2 months successfully defended it 2 times against Johnny Smith and Isamu Teranishi before losing it to Joe Malenko on July 1, 1989.After losing the title, Momota returned to opening matches and by the 1990s, his role began to change as he began wrestling mostly in comedic tag matches with fellow aging wrestlers mostly Haruka Eigen.