2006 saw him finally emerge as a top line player. On April 23, he usurped Ryo Saito as Open the Dream Gate Champion, and soon after, Mochizuki named him the leader of Final M2K so he could join Magnum TOKYO in his short-lived Renaissance project. However, he did not reach the status of ace, and his title reign became overshadowed by other events in the promotion. He had successful defenses against BxB Hulk, Dragon Kid and Pentagon Black. On November 23, he lost the title to Don Fujii in his fourth defense, and on January 14, 2007, Final M2K was brought to an end after he, Mochizuki, and K-ness lost a match to CIMA, Don Fujii and Matt Sydal of the also-ending Blood Generation.