On March 26, 2012, Sakamoto made his first appearance on WWE television in a vignette for the re-debuting Lord Tensai. Sakamoto made his debut on the April 2, 2012 episode of Raw as the follower of Tensai. Sakamoto would aid Tensai by interfering in his matches and attacking his adversaries. From June, with Tensai losing more frequently, he would often vent his frustrations by abusing and attacking Sakamoto, who would remain loyal to his master. By September, Tensai stopped appearing with Sakamoto, who disappeared from television.
Following his disassociation from Tensai, Sakamoto appeared in NXT, where he made his debut on the January 16, 2013 episode, losing to Adrian Neville. While facing Briley Pierce on the May 8 episode of NXT, both men were attacked by Conor O'Brian; this led to both men challenging O'Brian to a handicap match during the next episode, which O'Brian won. On May 17, 2013, Sakamoto was released; his last match was a battle royal on the May 29 episode of NXT (which was taped before his release) to determine the number one contender for the NXT Championship, where he and Pierce were the first men eliminated from the match courtesy of Mason Ryan.