 Following the death of Mitsuharu Misawa on June 13, 2009, Momota would finish the tour and resigned from NOAH as both wrestler and vice president in June 2009.After leaving NOAH, Momota began wrestling in the independents specifically for Genichiro Tenryu's new Tenryu Project.On June 9, 2010, Momota teamed with Tenryu and Koki Kitahara to face Yoshihiro Takayama, Tatsutoshi Goto, & Daisuke Sekimoto in a decision match for the Tenryu Project Six Man Tag Team Championship but lost.