On January 4, 2019, at Wrestle Kingdom 13, Tanahashi defeated Kenny Omega to become IWGP Heavyweight Champion for the eighth time, breaking his own record for most reigns in the process, and becoming the first Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate holder to successfully become champion at Wrestle Kingdom. On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, Tanahashi lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Jay White, ending his reign at 38 days. At the G1 Supercard in April, Tanahashi unsuccessfully faced Zack Sabre Jr. for the British Heavyweight Championship. At Dominion 6.9 on June 9, Tanahashi teamed with Juice Robinson and Ryusuke Taguchi to defeat the Bullet Club (Jay White, Chase Owens and Taiji Ishimori). On August 31 at Royal Quest, Tanahashi defeated Sabre for the British Heavyweight Championship, but lost it back in a rematch at Destruction in Beppu on September 15.