On April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, Tanahashi, Elgin and Yoshitatsu defeated The Elite to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. They made their first successful defense on April 23 against Omega, Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2016, they lost the title back to The Elite. Tanahashi was set to challenge Omega for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in NJPW's first ladder match at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall, but was forced to pull out of the match due to a shoulder injury. From July 18 to August 12, Tanahashi took part in the 2016 G1 Climax, where he finished tied second in his block with a record of five wins, one draw and three losses. A 30-minute time limit draw against Kazuchika Okada on the final day eliminated both men from advancing to the finals. On January 4, 2017, at Wrestle Kingdom 11, Tanahashi unsuccessfully challenged Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.