 After a gruelling 50 minute long match where she eliminated Sonoko Kato and Mayumi Ozaki, Kobayashi was finally defeated by Aja Kong and narrowly missed the chance to become #1 contender.She was scheduled to return to Mexico in September, but announced via Twitter that she had suffered a dislocation and internal ligament peeling in her knee, which would require 3 months away from the ring.After a 3 month hiatus, Kobayashi returned to the ring for Seadlinnng on January 20, 2019, in a triple threat loss to Tsukushi.