In November 2003, Ryusuke Taguchi and fellow New Japan graduate Hirooki Goto won a 4-team tournament to decide the number one contenders to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, defeating Wataru Inoue and El Samurai in the semifinals and Masahito Kakihara and Masayuki Naruse in the finals. When the title was vacated just days later due to injury, Taguchi and Goto instead faced Gedo and Jado (who had won a separate tournament) on November 29, 2003 to decide the new champions; Gedo and Jado won the match and the title. On December 27, 2003, Taguchi defeated Naofumi Yamamoto to gain a spot on the card for New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show, Wrestling World. He went on to defeat Akiya Anzawa at the event on January 4, 2004 in under five minutes.