The entirety of the PWFG roster (bar Fujiwara himself) jumped to Battlarts, including Usuda, who was pushed as a top star in the junior heavyweight division and primarily feuded with Minoru Tanaka, with the two trading victories back and forth early in the promotions life.
In May 1999, he partnered up with Carl Greco to win the Onikobe Tag Team Tournament, beating Daisuke Ikeda & Ikuto Hidaka in the final.
[9] Usuda's stock in Battlarts continued to rise, and on May 11, 2000 he beat longtime rival Minoru Tanaka to win the Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
Usuda initially jumped to Pro Wrestling Zero-One but saw limited success, usually competing on the losing end of tag team matches.
[16] Usuda main evented the second and third shows, losing to Ikeda in tag team action twice with Kazunari Murakami and Yuki Ishikawa as his respective partners.