House of Torture

The Logo of House of Torture

**House of Torture** (ハウス・オブ・トーチャー, *Hausu obu Tōchā*) (HoT) is a villainous professional wrestling stable in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, made up of Dick Togo, EVIL, Ren Narita, Sho and Yujiro Takahashi.

House of Torture was formed in September 2021 as a subgroup within Bullet Club. EVIL, Sho and Takahashi held the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship on two different occasions. As the leader of House of Torture, the stable marked a major turning point for the career of EVIL, who established himself as one of NJPW's top wrestlers and has challenged for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on multiple occasions. In September 2023, HoT received its fifth member when Yoshinobu Kanemaru joined and helped Sho capture the provisional KOPW Championship. Before the end of the year, the stable was joined by three new members American wrestlers Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona), who joined for a brief period and Ren Narita.

## Background

The House of Torture was conceived by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in mid 2021, by NJPW booker Dick Togo, who came up with the idea of continuing EVIL's long term push as a top star by surrounding him with an entourage, which would lead to an eventual split from the Bullet Club, after he had filled as a temporary leader, due to Jay White's travel restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sho, who became one of the founding members of the stable, was eager to work a singles career alongside Yoh, both were pushing for a split of Roppongi 3K. Their disbanding was debated internally, with NJPW booker Gedo being initially opposed, due to a variety of reasons including merchandise sales. However, Togo pitched Sho to be part of the stable and was responsible for booking the storyline of the Roppongi 3K split.

## History

### Formation (2021)

After New Japan Pro-Wrestling returned to promote events in July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, EVIL began being pushed into the main event picture, winning the 2020 New Japan Cup, in part due to outside interference by Bullet Club, before defecting to the stable, after turning on *Los Ingobernables de Japón* leader Tetsuya Naito. 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 the leadership of Bullet Club in Jay White's absence due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming the stable's first Japanese leader. 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. 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. From September 19 to October 20, both EVIL and Takahashi took part in the 2021 G1 Climax, wrestling in separate round-robin blocks. During the tournament, EVIL picked up a big win, through outside interference, over former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, but failed to advance in his block. Takahashi also failed to advance from his block, finishing the tournament with two wins, six losses and a draw.

### Feud with CHAOS (2021–2022)

Following the tournament, House of Torture began feuding with CHAOS. After working exclusively against each other in multi-man tag team matches between October and the first part of November, the rivalry between House of Torture and CHAOS built to a match on November 6 at Power Struggle pay-per-view, where EVIL, Sho and Takahashi defeated Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, with help the from Togo. Afterwards, EVIL, Sho and Takahashi attacked Goto, Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi, before Yoh, who made his return to the promotion since losing to Sho and made the save.

From November 13 until December 11, Sho took part in the 2021 Best of the Super Juniors, where he won six out of his ten round robin stage matches, including one over reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado, and was leading his block heading to the final day, but a loss against his former partner Yoh forced him to miss the finals of the tournament by two points. Meanwhile, EVIL and Takahashi took part in the 2021 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of eight wins and three losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. The rivalry between the two stables continued during the tournament, with EVIL and Takahashi being defeated in the finals of the tournament by Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi on December 15. During the final, Togo interfered in the match, but Tomohiro Ishii, who was at ringside, made the save, causing the House of Torture to lose the final. EVIL then got involved in a rivalry with CHAOS member Tomohiro Ishii and afterwards, in a post-match interview, EVIL reignited his rivalry Ishii, challenging to a title match for the NEVER Openweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom. Later that night, Sho interfered in the finals of the 2021 Best of the Super Juniors, between his former partner Yoh and Hiromu Takahashi attacking both finalists, before declaring the match a no-contest, only for the referee to ignore his declaration and continue the match, with both CHAOS and *Los Ingobernables de Japón* making the save. After Takahashi won the final, he declare that it was Yoh’s responsibility to stand up against Sho. Afterwards, in a post-match interview, Sho attacked Yoh, setting up their match for the event.

On January 4, 2022, on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 16, Sho was defeated by Yoh. Later that night, EVIL defeated Ishii, following the interference from Togo to win the NEVER Openweight Championship. The following day, EVIL, Sho and Takahashi defeated Ishii, Hirooki Goto, and Yoshi-Hashi to retain the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. The rivalry between the two stables continued later that month, during the New Years Golden Series. During the tour on February 19, EVIL and Takahashi unsucessfully challenged Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. The following day, EVIL, Sho and Takahashi defeated Goto, Yoh and Yoshi-Hashi to retain the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On May 1 at Wrestling Dontaku, EVIL lost the NEVER Openweight Championship to former Bullet Club stablemate Tama Tonga. Later that month, Sho took part in the 2022 Best of the Super Juniors, finishing the tournament with a record of five wins and four losses, failling to advance to the finals of the tournament. On July 1, the House of Torture made an appearance at GLEAT's first anniversary event, facing Alex Zayne, T-Hawk, Shigehiro Irie and Issei Onitsuka in a winning effort. On July 5, EVIL, Sho and Takahashi lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Goto, Yoshi-Hashi and Yoh. From July 16 to August 16, EVIL and Takahashi took part in the 2022 G1 Climax. Both failed to advance from their blocks, with both finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and three losses. Their heated feud with CHAOS culminated to a Tornado Dog Cage Survival match on September 23, where, EVIL, Sho and Takahashi defeated Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi and Yoh to regain the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On October 28 at Rumble on 44th Street, the House of Torture members were to attack an outnumbered Yoh, until the lights turned out and revealed to be the returning Lio Rush, who assisted Yoh in fending the House of Torture and joining CHAOS afterwards. From November 22 until December 14, EVIL and Takahashi took part in the 2022 World Tag League finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and six losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. Meanwhile, Togo and Sho took part in the 2022 Super Jr. Tag League finishing the tournament with a record of two wins and seven losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament.

### Championship pursuits and various feuds (2023)

On January 5, 2023, at *New Year Dash!*, House of Torture attacked Ren Narita, before Minoru Suzuki and his former Suzuki-gun stablemate El Desperado, to assist him, quickly taking care of House of Torture. Afterwards, in a post-match interview, the three formed a team, leading to a title match for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 11, where EVIL, Takahashi and Sho lost the titles to Narita, Desperado and Suzuki. They continued feuding with them over the following months, culminating in a No Count Out match on April 3, where EVIL, Takahashi 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, failling 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. In the semifinals, on August 12, EVIL was eliminated from the tournament by Kazuchika Okada. 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. Afterwards, EVIL forced ring announcer Makoto Abe to read a "company statement", which described SANADA as an inappropriate figure as champion and that he should turn his title over to EVIL, who proceeded to the steal it anyways. 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, setting up two title matches at Destruction. On September 24 at Destruction in Kobe, Sho defeated Taichi in a seconds handcuffed match to become the new provisional KOPW Champion, when Yoshinobu Kanemaru turned on Taichi and the Just 5 Guys stable and jumped to House of Torture, becoming the stable's fifth member. On October 9 at Destruction in Ryogoku, EVIL unsuccessfully challenged SANADA for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. From October 21 to November 2, Kanemaru and Sho took part in the 2023 Super Jr. Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record six wins and three losses, advancing to the finals. On November 4 at Power Struggle, Sho and Kanemaru were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Francesco Akira and TJP. Following the loss, Sho blamed Taichi for the loss, for "infusing the belt with a weird energy", leading to a rematch on November 17, where Sho lost the KOPW Championship back to Taichi, where Kanemaru was the Special Guest referee.

### Expansion (2023–present)

From November 20 to December 10, EVIL and Takahashi took part in the 2023 World Tag League. Despite the tournament campaign being disappointing, the stable began expanding its ranks, when on November 29, EVIL and Takahashi offered the Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona) 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, in their head-to-head match with EVIL and Takahashi, which the later won. 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 fifth member.

On December 10, in their block match of the 2023 World Tag League, EVIL and Takahashi faced Kaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa in a winning effort, before attacking them, only to be saved by Shota Umino. Afterwards, EVIL and Takahashi were challenged by Oiwa and Kiyomiya to a match. On December 20, House of Torture made an appearance in NOAH attacking Kiyomiya, Oiwa and Junta Miyawaki, before EVIL proposed a match between all members of House of Torture and Kiyomiya, Oiwa and their potential partners. Afterwards, Kiyomiya revealed that he had two wrestlers assisting them, which were Miyawaki and Shuji Kondo, after they accepted Kiyomiya's offer to join them. House of Torture and Taichi's feud culminated in a Whiskey Bottle Ladder match, between Kanemaru and Taichi on December 21, which he lost. Also in that day, Kiyomiya and Oiwa made an appearance in NJPW saving Shota Umino from an attack by House of Torture, before they challenged House of Torture to a match. On January 2, 2024 at NOAH The New Year, House of Torture faced Kiyomiya, Oiwa, Umino, Junta Miyawaki and Shuji Kondo in a losing effort. Two days later at Wrestle Kingdom 18, House of Torture got their revenge and defeated Shota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya, ending their feud.

Three days later, at *New Year Dash*, during a post-match interview, EVIL attacked Tama Tonga and made the challenge for his title, but also humiliated the newly crowned champion as he cut off some of his hair. On January 10, Tama Tonga’s profile was erroneously erased from the NJPW profile page, and EVIL was incorrectly listed as the NEVER Openweight Champion, after it was discovered by video evidence that EVIL had forced NJPW staff to do those modifications. On January 22 at The New Beginning in Nagoya, EVIL faced Tonga for the NEVER Openweight Championship. The match originally ended in a no contest, after Tonga was attacked by the House of Torture. The match was restarted into a Lumberjack Deathmatch, where EVIL defeated Tonga to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the third time. Narita and Umino's feud culminated in a match on January 24, where Narita was defeated by Umino, despite the interference from House of Torture. Afterwards, Umino was asked by Tama Tonga, who helped him fend off the House of Torture, to challenge for the NEVER Openweight Championship.

## Reception

House of Torture's interference angles have received a generally poor reception, among fans, critics and wrestlers, whom strongly criticized those angles and their excessive use throughout their matches.

House of Torture's matches often involve excessive abundance of outside interference, referee bumps and other tactics, which are more common in "American" professional wrestling and are rarely seen in Japanese *puroresu*, even in matches involving other villainous acts. This disregard for Japanese traditions and culture that was included in the stable to push them as a top act similar to Bullet Club, whom they are part of. Due to disagreements with those angles, various wrestlers lobbied NJPW head booker Gedo to remove or adjust the stable's spots from their matches, most notably, a result of a match featuring a match between EVIL and Shingo Takagi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, where Takagi was able to veto some of the spots in their match, due to being the reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.

## Championships and Accomplishments

* **New Japan Pro-Wrestling**
	+ NEVER Openweight Championship (2 times, current) – EVIL
	+ NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) – EVIL, Sho and Takahashi
	+ Provisional KOPW 2023 Championship (1 time) – Sho

## Gallery

* Gallery
* Current Members
* Former Members
* Champions

Original logoThe Original Members of the House of TortureHouse of Torture after Yoshinobu Kanemaru's additionHouse of Torture after the Gates of Agony's additionHouse of Torture after the Ren Narita's addition

Dick TogoEVILYujiro TakahashiShoYoshinobu KanemaruRen Narita

Bishop KaunToa Liona

EVIL, Sho and Yujiro Takahashi as the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team ChampionsEVIL as the NEVER Openweight ChampionSho as the Provisional KOPW Champion