During high school, Taguchi dabbled in many athletic pursuits, including baseball, soccer, and track and field, before entering the class in amateur wrestling at Tōkai University. He enrolled in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) dojo in March 2002, training under Kotetsu Yamamoto, passing the promotion's notoriously tough entry test, before debuting on November 22, 2002 in a losing effort against Toru Yano. Taguchi continued to wrestle in minor matches through early 2003, before being entered into the tenth annual Best of the Super Juniors (BOSJ) tournament by default after Heat pulled out. Taguchi finished in last place with zero points, losing all of his matches.