On 28 February, he retained his title against Togi Makabe and then on 10 July against Yoshihiro Takayama. On October 1, 2010, Sugiura travelled to Tamaulipas, Mexico to defend the GHC Heavyweight Championship, defeating Chessman at Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) event Héroes Inmortales IV. Sugiura returned to New Japan on January 4, 2011, at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, where he and Yoshihiro Takayama defeated Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada in a tag team match.
On February 28th, he retained his title against Togi Makabe and then on July 10th against Yoshihiro Takayama. On October 1st, 2010, Sugiura travelled to Tamaulipas, Mexico to defend the GHC Heavyweight Championship, defeating Chessman at a Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) event called Héroes Inmortales IV. He returned to New Japan on January 4th, 2011, for Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome where he and Yoshihiro Takayama defeated Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada in a tag team match.