 A veteran of American Ring of Honor promotion, Morishima has stated that while he plans on returning to ROH in the future, he has no intentions in regaining the ROH Championship, as he will be fully focused on Noah's heavyweight scene.On June 14, 2008, Morishima made his very first defense of the GHC Heavyweight Title against Takashi Sugiura.Morishima prevailed after hitting a backdrop driver.