History
Formation; EVIL's leadership (2021-2026)
After Evil won the 2020 New Japan Cup, in part due to outside interference by Bullet Club, he 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 pursuing 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 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]
On January 5, 2023, at New Year Dash!!, House of Torture (Evil, Togo and Takahashi) 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, Takahashi 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, Takahashi and Sho lost the titles to Strong Style (Suzuki, Narita and Desperado). [8] Both trios continued feuding with each other over the following months, culminating in a No Countouts match on April 3 during the Road to Sakura Genesis tour, 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, 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. [9] In the semifinals, on August 12, Evil was eliminated from the tournament by Kazuchika Okada. [10] 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 an eight-man tag team match 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. [11] On October 9 at Destruction in Ryogoku, Evil unsuccessfully challenged Sanada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. [12] On November 29, Evil and Takahashi 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. [13] 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. [14] On March 6 at NJPW's 52nd Anniversary Show, All Elite Wrestling's Jack Perry joined the stable after defeating Umino, [15] but silently left the group on May 11 at Resurgence. [16] On April 6 at Sakura Genesis, Evil lost the NEVER Openweight Championship back to Shingo Takagi. [17] On June 16 at New Japan Soul: Night 1, Sho lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship back to Desperado in a Steel Cage match. [18] In August, the relationship between House of Torture and Bullet Club War Dogs started to deteriorate, 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. [19]
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. [20] On January 30, during the Road to the New Beginning tour, Narita, Sho and Yujiro Takahashi defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano and Boltin Oleg to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. [21] On April 5 at Sakura Genesis, Sanada turned on the War Dogs and joined House of Torture. [22] In a post-match interview, Finlay alongside the War Dogs (Kidd, Moloney, 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. [23] At Dominion 6.15 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 15, 2025, Don Fale, Chase Owens and Douki joined the stable, while Douki and Sho won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship that same night, and Evil defeated Finlay in a Dog Collar Deathmatch to end the feud with the War Dogs. [24] On July 4, during the New Japan Soul tour, Narita, Sho and Takahashi lost the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship to Wato, Yoh and Toru Yano. [25] From July 19 until August 17, Evil, Narita and Sanada participated in G1 Climax 35 (A, B, and A Block respectively); Narita and Sanada failed to advance out of their blocks [26] [27] while Evil made it to the finals [28] [29] but lost to Konosuke Takeshita. [30] At King of Pro-Wrestling on October 13, Evil defeated Boltin Oleg to win his fourth NEVER Openweight Championship. [31] On October 6 at Road to King of Pro Wrestling: Night 2, Douki defeated El Desperado to win his second IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. [32] From October 21 till November 2, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions (Douki and Sho) participated in the 2025 Super Junior Tag League in Block A, finishing with a perfect 5—0 record [33] and won the turnament when they defeated Ishimori and Robbie X, becoming the first team to win the trophy while also being champions. [34]
At Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4, 2026, Sho failed to win a four-way match to determine the #1 contender to Douki's IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, while Evil lost the NEVER Openweight Championship to Aaron Wolf. [35] At New Year Dash the following night, DOUKI and SHO lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in a four-way tag team match to Ichiban Sweet Boys (Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita). [36]
EVIL's Exit; Ren Narita's Leadership (2026-Present)
On January 25, NJPW announced that Evil would not be re-newing his contract and would be leaving the promotion. [37] Shortly after, in an interview for Tokyo Sports, Narita declared he had taken over House of Torture, becoming the new leader. [38]
