House of Torture

House of Torture
Stable
LeaderEvil
MembersSee below
NameHouse of Torture
DebutSeptember 4, 2021
Years active2021–present

House of Torture is a villainous professional wrestling stable primarily appearing in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW); it was formerly a sub-grouping of the stable Bullet Club from 2021-2025. The stable is led by Evil and also consists of Chase Owens, Dick Togo, Don Fale, Douki, Ren Narita, Sho, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi and Sanada.

History

Formation (2021)

After Evil won the 2020 New Japan Cup, in part due to outside interference by Bullet Club, EVIL defected to the stable, after turning on Los Ingobernables de Japón leader Tetsuya Naito.[1] Evil went on to win the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships and enlisted a new stablemate Dick Togo as his manager and spokesperson. He also temporarily took over as the top representative member of Bullet Club in Jay White's absence due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, with White still serving as the recognized official leader.[2] As Evil was still NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion with Bushi and Takagi despite his betrayal, he became the first triple champion in the history of New Japan Pro-Wrestling.[3][4] Meanwhile, Sho began persuing his singles career, following his partner Yoh's injury. After a losing streak in August 2021, Sho turned on Yoh, disbanding Roppongi 3K.

Their rivalry culminated into a match on September 4 at Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome, where Sho defeated his former teammate. Afterwards, Sho was accepted into Bullet Club by Dick Togo, Evil and Yujiro Takahashi.[5] In the aftermath of Sho's addition, he, Togo, Evil and Takahashi formed their own subgroup within the stable, called "House of Torture". The following day, EVIL unsuccessfully challenged Shingo Takagi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.[6]

Championship pursuits, and expansion (2023–present)

On January 5, 2023, at New Year Dash!!, House of Torture (Evil, Togo and Yujiro) attacked Ren Narita, before Minoru Suzuki and his former Suzuki-gun stablemate El Desperado came out for the save. Afterwards, in a post-match interview, Desperado, Suzuki and Narita, challenged Evil, Yujiro and Sho for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 11.[7] At the event, Evil, Yujiro and Sho lost the titles.[8][9] They continued feuding with Strong Style (Suzuki, Narita and Desperad) over the following months, culminating in a No Countouts match on April 3 at the Road to Sakura Genesis: Night 3, where Evil, Yujiro and Sho failed to regain the titles. The following month, Sho took part in the 2023 Best of the Super Juniors, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, failing to advance to the semifinals.

From July 16 to August 8, Evil took part in the 2023 G1 Climax, where he finished the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, on August 10, Evil defeated reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada to advance to the semifinals.[10] In the semifinals, on August 12, Evil was eliminated from the tournament by Kazuchika Okada.[11] Following the tournament, on August 13, House of Torture embarked on a feud with Just 5 Guys. After a match between the two sides, EVIL attacked Sanada with the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship belt, before hanging him by his injured bicep. Meanwhile, Sho attacked Taichi with the Provisional KOPW Championship, declaring that he would take it from its rightful holder, after pinning him in the eight-man tag team match (Evil, Yujiro, Sho and Togo vs Douki, Taichi, Sanada and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) on the final night of the G1 Climax 33, setting up two title matches at Destruction. On September 24 at Destruction in Kobe, Sho defeated Taichi to become the new Provisional KOPW Champion, after Yoshinobu Kanemaru turned on Taichi and the Just 5 Guys stable and jumped to House of Torture, becoming the stable's fifth member.[12] On October 9 at Destruction in Ryogoku, Evil unsuccessfully challenged Sanada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.[13] On November 29, Evil and Yujiro offered the Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona) a chance to join House of Torture, which they accepted, becoming the newest members of the stable. However, this was revealed to be a hoax, as on December 1, Gates of Agony decided to leave the stable. Five days later, in the final round robin match of the World Tag League, Ren Narita turned on his partner Shota Umino to join the House of Torture, becoming the stable's sixth member.

On January 22, 2024 at The New Beginning in Nagoya, Evil defeated Tama Tonga to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the third time.[14] On February 23 at The New Beginning in Sapporo: Night 1, Sho defeated Desperado to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, and Evil successfully defended the NEVER Openweight Championship against Shota Umino.[15] On March 6 at NJPW's 52nd Anniversary Show, All Elite Wrestling's Jack Perry joined the stable after defeating Umino,[16] but silently left the group on May 11 at Resurgence.[17] On April 6 at Sakura Genesis, Evil lost the NEVER Openweight Championship back to Shingo Takagi.[18] On June 16 at New Japan Soul: Night 1, Sho lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship back to Desperado in a Steel Cage match.[19]

In August, the relationship between House of Torture and Bullet Club War Dogs started to detriorate, leading to various conflicts between both stable's members in their head-to-head match in the 2024 G1 Climax. This led to Bullet Club leader David Finlay, who had previously excommunicated the other sub-groups in the past, expelling House of Torture from Bullet Club on September 26, with the stable becoming an independent entity separated from Bullet Club. On October 14 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Narita won the NJPW World Television Championship by defeating Jeff Cobb and Yota Tsuji in a three-way match.=[20] From November 21 until December 6, Evil and Narita took part in the 2024 World Tag League, where they finished the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses. On December 6, it was announced that, due to Evil and Narita being tied 10 points with Toru Yano and Boltin Oleg and Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi, the three teams would face each other in a three-way match to decide the finalists of the tournament, which Evil and Narita failed to win. On January 4, 2025 at Wrestle Kingdom 19, Narita lost the NJPW World Television Championship to El Phantasmo in a four-way match also involving Cobb and Ryohei Oiwa.[21] On January 30 on the Road to the New Beginning: Night 3, Narita, Sho and Yujiro defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano and Boltin Oleg to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. [22] On April 5 at Sakura Genesis, during a NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship match in which Narita, Sho and Yujiro defended against Bullet Club War Dogs' Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney and Taiji Ishimori, Sanada turned on the War Dogs by attacking Moloney and joined House of Torture, thus realigning with former Los Ingobernables de Japon stablemate Evil.[23] In a post-match interview, Finlay alongside the War Dogs (Kidd, Drilla, Connors and Ishimori) challenged House of Torture (Evil, Narita, Sho, Kanemaru and Sanada) to a Dog Pound match, which was later made official for May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku: Night 1. Finlay later added the stipulation that the losers must leave Bullet Club. At the event, the War Dogs defeated House of Torture, thus HoT were forced to leave Bullet Club. [24]

At Dominion 6.15 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 15, 2025, Don Fale, Chase Owens and Douki joined the stable. Douki and Sho won the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship that same night.[25]

Members

* Founding member
L Leader
M Manager
Member Joined
Douki June 15, 2025
Don Fale June 15, 2025
Chase Owens June 15, 2025
Dick Togo */M September 4, 2021

Evil

*/L September 4, 2021
Ren Narita December 6, 2023
Sanada

April 5, 2025

Sho * September 4, 2021
Yoshinobu Kanemaru September 24, 2023
Yujiro Takahashi * September 4, 2021

Former

Member Joined Left
Jack Perry March 6, 2024 May 11, 2024[note 1]

Timeline

Championships and accomplishments

Notes

  1. ^ Never officially left the stable. Date marks his last appearance with the stable.

References

  1. ^ NJPW. "New Japan Cup Final Card set! | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". NJPW. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  2. ^ "DOMINION In OSAKA-JO HALL". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  3. ^ "The Journey Into EVIL: A Look at New Japan's First Triple Champion". July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  4. ^ "New NEVER 6-Man Tag Champions to be crowned in Korakuen tournament | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". NJPW.
  5. ^ "2021.09.04 WRESTLE GRAND SLAM In MetLife Dome". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  6. ^ "2021.09.05 WRESTLE GRAND SLAM In MetLife Dome". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  7. ^ "2023.01.05 New Year Dash!! | New Japan Pro-Wrestling". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Results was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "NJPW New Beginning in Osaka live results: Okada vs. Shingo". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 2023-02-11. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  10. ^ "2023.08.10 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
  11. ^ "2023.08.12 G1 CLIMAX 33 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  12. ^ "DESTRUCTION in KOBE SUN. SEPTEMBER. 24. 2023". njpw1972.com. NJPW. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  13. ^ "DESTRUCTION in RYOGOKU MON. OCTOBER. 9. 2023". njpw1972.com. NJPW. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  14. ^ "NJPW The New Beginning in Nagoya live results: NEVER title match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 2023-01-20. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  15. ^ Better, Chris (February 23, 2024). "NJPW The New Beginning Sapporo results (2/23): Vetter's review of David Finlay vs. Nick Nemeth for the IWGP Global Title, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Matt Riddle for the NJPW TV Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  16. ^ Carey, Ian (6 March 2024). "Jack Perry joins House of Torture at NJPW 52nd Anniversary Show". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  17. ^ Vetter, Chris (May 12, 2024). "NJPW Resurgence results (5/11): Vetter's review of Jon Moxley vs. Shota Umino for the IWGP World Hvt. Championship, Eddie Kingston vs. Gabe Kidd for the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  18. ^ Fritts, Chick (April 6, 2024). "NJPW Sakura Genesis live results: Naito vs. Tsuji IWGP World title match". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  19. ^ Fritts, Chick (June 15, 2024). "New Japan Soul live results: IWGP Junior title steel cage match". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
  20. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (May 3, 2024). "NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling Results (10/14): Zack Sabre Jr vs. Tetsuya Naito, DOUKI vs. SHO". Fightful. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  21. ^ Vetter, Chris (January 4, 2025). "NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 results: Vetter's review of Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino for the IWGP World Hvt. Championship, AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. Never Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi in a title vs. title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  22. ^ Vetter, Chris (January 30, 2025). "NJPW "Road to the New Beginning" results (1/30): Vetter's review of Zack Sabre Jr., Robbie Eagles, and Kosei Fujita vs. Hirooki Goto, El Desperado, and Yoh". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  23. ^ "NJPW Sakura Genesis live results: Goto vs. Finlay IWGP title match". F4W/WON. 2025-04-05. Retrieved 2025-04-05.
  24. ^ Michaels, Corey (May 3, 2025). "NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night one live results: Dogpound cage match". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 3, 2025.
  25. ^ Michaels, Corey (June 15, 2025). "NJPW Dominion live results: Goto vs. Shingo IWGP title match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
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