In January 1991, Fuji teamed with Tarzan Goto to participate in a tag team tournament, in which the team qualified for the knockout stage by scoring three points in the round-robin stage. They were eliminated from the knockout stage by losing to Atsushi Onita and Sambo Asako in the quarter-final on January 15. He continued to team with Goto and Onita to wrestle Mr. Pogo and his allies in several matches. On May 29, Fuji was booked to win his first title in FMW by defeating Jimmy Backlund to capture the World Light Heavyweight Championship. He began feuding with Mark Starr after successfully defending the title against Starr in his first title defense on June 21. On August 17, Fuji entered the Barbed Wire Deathmatch Tournament, in which he defeated Starr in the quarter-final round before losing to eventual winner Atsushi Onita via forfeit in the semi-final. Fuji dropped the World Light Heavyweight Championship to Starr on August 24.