Wada caught the eye of owner Giant Baba, who noticed he was light on his feet and asked if he would be interested in training to be a referee.

At Mitsuharu Misawa's memorial show in 2009, Wada served as referee for the main event, pitting Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada against Kenta and Jun Akiyama.

Wada's departure was in response to what he viewed as AJPW president Keiji Mutoh's poor handling of the backstage incident between Nobukazu Hirai and Yoshikazu Taru and the rest of the Voodoo Murders.

Wada said he felt that Mutoh's lack of a public apology to Hirai "betrayed All Japan Pro Wrestling" and cited it as the main reason for his departure.

[3][4] The same day he announced his departure from All Japan, Wada was offered a position of head referee in Smash, and debuted for the promotion in July.

[7] On June 30, 2013, Wada refereed an All Japan match for the first time in two years at Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku, the last show held under Mutoh before he and much of the roster would leave the promotion just days later.