After departing from TNA, Williams made a one-night return to Border City Wrestling on March 28 to compete in an eight-man gauntlet match to determine who would claim the vacant Heavyweight Championship. Tyson Dux ultimately won the match and the title. On April 17, Williams began wrestling for All Japan Pro Wrestling during their newly introduced Junior Tag League with Phil Atlas as his tag team partner. On April 29, the final night of the Tag League, Williams and Atlas defeated F4 (Hiroshi Yamato and Kai) to claim third place. Williams returned to AJPW in late August to compete in the Junior League, where he only won one match. Upon his return to the US, Williams participated in the PWS King Of The Ring 2009 and reached the finals before losing to Aden Chambers.