Takagi remained a strong member of the undercard, feuding with dojo classmates Akira Taue, Kenta Kobashi, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Tatsumi Kitahara.
In 1998, as WAR went into decline due to Tenryu making a comeback in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Arashi went to Yoshiaki Yatsu's SPWF promotion.
On December 27, he and Muto (under his Great Muta persona) defeated Christopher Daniels and Dan Maff to retain the title at an ROH vs. All Japan card.
After he and Mutoh lost the World Tag Team Championship to Kojima and Kaz Hayashi, Arashi was relegated back to the mid-card.
Freed after serving a portion of his sentence, Takagi returned to professional wrestling, working in Tatsumi Fujinami's Muga World (now Dradition) promotion.