He found little success until he started a regular tag team with Tamon Honda near the end of his All Japan stay.

Inoue shocked many wrestling fans by beating rookie Shuhei Taniguchi, Takuma Sano, and finally stablemate Akitoshi Saito to win the tournament.

[4] Through this tournament win and his subsequent hard-fought match against Akiyama, Inoue greatly improved his stock in the company.

The duo proved fairly unsuccessful as they won only one match finishing last out of the eight teams with two points.

[10] Following 2011, Inoue began to make only sporadic appearances in Pro Wrestling Noah as he spent the better part of his time in All Japan.

[11] Following over a decade away from All Japan, Inoue made his return on March 4, 2012, where he teamed with Masanobu Fuchi in a losing effort to Akebono and Ryota Hama.

[12] Inoue received his first title match since his return on August 8 where he faced Akebono and Hama with KENSO as his partner, however, the pair fell short in their bid for the All Asia Tag Team Championships.