Tatsu was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft on April 26. He appeared at Extreme Rules on May 1 at where he was a Lumberjack in the WWE Tag Team Championship match. On the June 3 edition of SmackDown, He made his debut for the brand in a losing effort against Jinder Mahal.<ref name="SD 6/3/11"></ref> After the match, Mahal instructed The Great Khali to attack Tatsu and apply the Vise Grip on him. On the July 26, 2011 episode of NXT, Tatsu defeated Tyson Kidd in the first Necklace on a Pole match.<ref name="NXT 7/26/2011"></ref> After the match Kidd brutally attacked the right leg of Tatsu and on the August 2nd edition of NXT, Kidd said that "there will be no more Yoshi Tatsu".