During Chono's absence, Keiji Mutoh assumed control of nWo Japan and changed its philosophy making them a Face stable.
Throughout the majority of 1999, Team 2000 was feuding with nWo Japan exchanging victories, and in the big shows, most of T2000 (Sting, Wallstreet, and AKIRA) were left off.
T2000's first big moments occurred at Strong Style Symphony on April 10, 1999 where Chono fought to a double KO with fellow legend Atsushi Onita in an exploding barbwire match in the opener while Frye main evented with Mutoh for the IWGP Title but was defeated.
At Wrestling World 2000 on January 4, 2000, the Team 2000/nWo Japan feud continued as both groups would go 1–1 with Frye losing to Norton while Chono defeated Mutoh.
[15] At Wrestling World 2001 on January 4, 2001, Chono, Tenzan, and Kojima entered the IWGP Heavyweight Championship tournament hoping to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title but they all lost as Tenzan fell to Toshiaki Kawada in the semi-finals while Kojima (first round) and Chono (semi-final) were defeated by eventual winner: Kensuke Sasaki.
[17] Things picked up for T2000 in March as Chono recruited nWo co-founder: Scott Hall, Tencozy retained the IWGP Tag Titles against Riki Choshu and Shinya Makabe, and in an upset: Scott Norton defeated Sasaki to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
[18] Beginning in the spring, Team 2000 began a feud with Keiji Mutoh and his new stable, Bad Ass Translate Trading.
On April 9 at Strong Style, T2000 had mixed results as Chono and Tencozy defeated BATT but Norton lost the IWGP Title to Kazuyuki Fujita.
[16] At Dome Quake on July 20 saw T2000 rebound as new members: Jado and Gedo defeated Jyushin Thunder Liger and El Samurai to win the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship, Tencozy retained the IWGP Tag Team Title against BATT's Jinsei Shinzaki and Taiyo Kea, and Chono defeated Mutoh.
In September 2001, T2000 would experience a downturn as Norton, Hall, J, and newcomer: Giant Silva entered the G1 World League but despite Team 2000 having 4/5 of the participants, they all lost to Don Frye.
In December, Williams and Rotundo entered the 2001 World's Strongest Tag Determination League but finished in 5th place with 6 points.
Beginning in February/March, Team 2000 added both Black Tiger III and Eddie Guerrero to the group while Super J left to join the New Japan army,[23] and Chono and Tenzan buried the hatchet and reunited.