Soon after his final MMA fight, Kushida was granted a one-year temporary absence from the Senshu University, during which he would travel to Mexico with money borrowed from his mother.

[4] In Mexico, he learned the style of lucha libre under Oriental in his Aztec Budokan wrestling school, where he had his professional debut on September 16, 2005, as the masked wrestler Yujiro.

Kushida and Chie, assisted by guest tarento Hitomi Kaikawa, entered a feud with villainous Monster Army member Giant Vabo (Nagao), but they were mostly unsuccessful.

Ohara allied himself with Minoru Fujita as his mentor to counter Tajiri, and stipulated a last title match in which Kushida would put his Hustle career in line.

[10] On June 1, 2016, the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion announced Kushida as a participant in the 2016 International Gran Prix.

At Smash.10 Kushida participated in his first hardcore match, teaming with Super Crazy and Isami Kodaka to defeat Hajime Ohara, Heimo Ukonselkä, and Jessica Love.

[21] Kushida then went on to compete in J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament 2011 with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Máscara Dorada, however the trio were beaten in the second round by Jyushin Thunder Liger, Karl Anderson and Giant Bernard.

[23] On November 12 at Power Struggle, Kushida and Tiger Mask unsuccessfully challenged Davey Richards and Rocky Romero for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

[24] At Wrestle Kingdom VI, Kushida participated in his first match on January 4 Dome Show by teaming up with Jyushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV and Mascara Dorada to defeat Atlantis, Valiente and Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Taka Michinoku).

On January 21, Kushida returned after the NJPW break period to take part in the Fantastica Mania 2012 events, teaming with Hirooki Goto, beating Máscara Dorada and Rush.

[26] At The New Beginning, Kushida along with Seigigun (Wataru Inoue and Yuji Nagata), Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe were defeated in a ten-man tag team elimination match by Suzuki-gun (Lance Archer, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Taka Michinoku and Yoshihiro Takayama).

[33] On October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Kushida and Alex Shelley unsuccessfully challenged Forever Hooligans for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

[36] On November 11 at Power Struggle, the Time Splitters defeated Forever Hooligans in a rematch to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, Kushida's first title in New Japan.

[42] On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013, Time Splitters lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship back to the Forever Hooligans in their fourth defense.

[47] Back in New Japan, Kushida and Shelley defeated Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Taka Michinoku) on September 29 at Destruction to earn another shot at the Forever Hooligans and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

[49] Shelley returned from his injury on January 4, 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, where the Time Splitters unsuccessfully challenged The Young Bucks for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in a four-way match, which also included Forever Hooligans and Suzuki-gun.

[55] Time Splitters received another shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on May 10 at Global Wars, a special event co-produced by NJPW and ROH in Toronto, but were defeated by The Young Bucks in a three-way match, also involving Forever Hooligans.

[65][66] Two days later at Destruction in Okayama, Time Splitters made their second successful defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Taichi).

[71] Time Splitters received a rematch for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on January 4, 2015, at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome, in a four-way match also involving Forever Hooligans and The Young Bucks, but were again defeated by reDRagon.

[84] Four days later at Destruction in Kobe, Kushida and the returning Alex Shelley unsuccessfully challenged reDRagon for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

[92] On July 20, Kushida entered the 2016 Super J-Cup tournament, defeating Pro Wrestling Noah representative Taiji Ishimori in his first round match.

After the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship was vacated when Hiromu Takahashi suffered a neck injury during a successful title defense against Dragon Lee at the G1 Special In San Francisco, Kushida was entered into a four-man tournament to crown a new champion.

[108] After months of rumored interest in Kushida by American promotion WWE, the wrestler's signing was officially announced at a press conference in New York City a few days before WrestleMania 35 in April 2019.

[116] On January 15, Time Splitters were eliminated in the first round after being defeated by NXT UK's Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) [117] That reunion was one-off.

Kushida eventually formed a team with Ikemen Jiro, due to the pair both having issues with The Diamond Mine, deciding on the name Jacket Time.

[128] Kushida would return to the ring on the November 5 episode of 205 Live, teaming with Jiro in a losing effort against The Grizzled Young Veterans after a distraction from The Creed Brothers.

[139] On June 4 at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall, Intergalactic Jet Setters lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships back to Catch 2/2 in a rematch.

[140] Kushida made his Impact Wrestling debut on July 21, 2022, saving Chris Sabin and his former Time Splitters teammate Alex Shelley from an attack by Deaner and Joe Doering.

At Sacrifice, Kushida, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley lost to The Grizzled Young Vets (Zack Gibson and James Drake) and Mustafa Ali.

[146] Kushida resided in Orlando, Florida, with his wife and daughter during his time in WWE before moving to Los Angeles, California in 2022 following his return to New Japan Pro Wrestling.