In 2012, he traveled to Mexico for a learning excursion, working for NJPW's Mexican affiliate Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) as the masked character Namajague, a Spanish translation of Namahage, a Japanese folk demon.

After being unmasked due to losing a match and briefly working without one, Mikami returned to NJPW in January 2014 and was repackaged under another mask as El Desperado.

[5] He would later team up with fellow "Young Lions" Hiromu Takahashi & Takaaki Watanabe to compete in NJPW's "J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament".

Mikami's "learning excursion" took him to Mexico in early 2012, where he was given a new name, Namajague and a mask that was inspired by the imagery of the Japanese folk demon Namahage.

[12] In the months following the Anniversary show Namajague and Okumura developed a long running storyline with Stuka, Jr. and Rey Cometa that evolved into the main event of the 2013 Homenaje a Dos Leyendas show contested under Luchas de Apuestas, or "bet match" rules where Namajague and Stuka, Jr. both risked their masks and Okumura and Rey Cometa would risk their hair on the outcome of the match.

[13] On March 3, 2013, Namajague and Okumura defeated Fuego and Stuka, Jr. to win the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship, Mikami's first professional wrestling title.

[17][18] The conflict led to CMLL signing a one-on-one Lucha de Apuestas between with Cometa and Namajague's hair on the line, to take place on the April 26, 2013 Arena Mexico 57th Anniversary Show.

[20] On November 3, Namajague and Okumura lost the Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship to Delta and Guerrero Maya, Jr.[21] On December 9, 2013, NJPW announced the upcoming debut of a new masked wrestler named "El Desperado".

Wearing a new white mask and a black suit and carrying a guitar case, similar to the character El Mariachi from the Mexico Trilogy films, he entered the ring after Kota Ibushi had become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and gave him a bouquet of flowers.

[29] From May 30 to June 6, El Desperado took part in the 2014 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, where he finished with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance from his block.

[32] On September 23 at Destruction in Okayama, El Desperado and Suzuki-gun stablemate Taichi received a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by the Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida).

[38] As part of the storyline, El Desperado and Taka Michinoku won the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on March 15 by defeating Choukibou-gun (Hajime Ohara and Kenoh) and No Mercy (Daisuke Harada and Genba Hirayanagi) in a three-way match.

[40][41] The following month, El Desperado and Michinoku made it to the finals of the 2015 NTV G+ Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League, but were defeated there by Harada and Atsushi Kotoge.

[44] After his return, El Desperado was forced to put his spot in Suzuki-gun on the line, but managed to retain his membership by defeating stablemate Takashi Iizuka by disqualification on March 17, 2016.

[49] On March 6, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in a 3-way involving Roppongi 3K and Los Ingobernables de Japón.

[50] From October 16 to November 1, 2018, Desperado and Kanemaru participated in the 2018 Super Junior Tag Tournament, where they topped the block with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing into the finals, but were defeated by Roppongi 3K in a triple threat match which also included Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi and Shingo Takagi).

[51] On January 4, 2019, at Wrestle Kingdom 13, Desperado and Kanemaru lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to Bushi and Takagi, in a three-way rematch which also included Roppongi 3K, ending their reign at 304 days.

Desperado and Kanemaru lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships to Roppongi 3K at Sakura Genesis,[58] ending his run as a double champion.

At Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome on July 25, El Desperado lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Robbie Eagles via submission, ending his reign at 147 days.

[68] Desperado made a special appearance on the June 15th special Road Rager episode of Dynamite, where he and Lance Archer represented Suzuki-gun aiding the Jericho Appreciation Society, by attacking Jon Moxley, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Wheeler Yuta, Eddie Kingston and Ortiz, promoting stable leader Minoru Suzuki and the JAS teaming at Forbidden Door.

[70] Desperado returned to the US the following month, making his NJPW Strong debut, defeating Hiromu Takahashi and Blake Christian in a three-way match.

[73] The final match between the faction took place on December 23, where the team of Taichi, Sabre Jr, Kanemaru and Douki defeated Suzuki, Archer, Desperado and Michinoku.

[79] In May at Wrestling Dontaku, Strong Style lost the Never Openweight 6 man tag-team championships, to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii.