At the following major event, Wrestling Dontaku 2014 on May 3, Taguchi received a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Kota Ibushi. On May 30, Taguchi entered the 2014 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, where he finished second in his block with a record of four wins and three losses, advancing to the semifinals. On June 8, Taguchi was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Ricochet. On September 21 at Destruction in Kobe, Taguchi defeated Kushida to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the second time. He made his first successful title defense on October 13 at King of Pro-Wrestling against El Desperado, despite outside interference from his Suzuki-gun stablemates Taichi and Taka Michinoku. Taguchi's feud with the Suzuki-gun trio continued on October 25 at the 2014 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, where he teamed with Mexican wrestler Fuego. Taguchi and Fuego were eliminated from the tournament in the first round by El Desperado and Taichi, when Taichi pinned Taguchi, after outside interference from Michinoku and Desperado hitting him with his own title belt. This led to Power Struggle on November 8, where Taguchi successfully defended his title against Taichi. On January 4, 2015, Taguchi lost the title to Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome.