He debuted on July 24, 1986 in a losing effort against Masaharu Funaki, and spent a few years working at the bottom of the card, wrestling with the likes of Kensuke Sasaki, Kenichi Oya, and Takayuki Iizuka.
In 1997, El Samurai adopted a new attire and won the Best of the Super Junior tournament, defeating Koji Kanemoto in the final match, during which his mask was torn completely off his face.
On February 1, 2008, NJPW agreed to let El Samurai leave the company after his contract expired, due to him suffering from many injuries that limited his appearances in late 2007 and early 2008.
On February 17, El Samurai appeared in All Japan Pro Wrestling, aiding Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo by fending off NOSAWA Rongai and MAZADA.
El Samurai and his partner, former rival Koji Kanemoto, advanced to the finals of the tournament, where they defeated the team of Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi to win the titles.