Kanemaru stabs Taichi in the back after seven year friendship
Destruction in Kobe’s KOPW 2023 match was set to have all members of Just Five Guys and HOUSE OF TORTURE handcuffed to one another, but when a missing figure showed their face, a betrayal of a near decade long relationship saw Yoshinobu Kanemaru join the dark forces of H.O.T.
With Just Five Guys and HOUSE OF TORTURE reluctantly handcuffed to each other at ringside the match could begin, SHO immediately attempting to free his allies without any success and instead being thrown into the barrier by Taichi. Back in the ring SHO split Taichi with a spear before heading out into the Kobe crowd to hurl Taichi into the chairs and choke his opponent, and as the KOPW Champion attempted to get back into the ring he was stopped by HOUSE OF TORTURE at ringside, finally breaking free to return to the ring just before the 20 count.
The ever cocky SHO sought to aggravate Taichi, a second spear this time caught and Taichi knocking SHO’s head off with an Axe Bomber. A further kick to SHO put him down as Taichi took the opportunity to attack EVIL on the outside, then returning to the ring to incapacitate his challenger with a deadly Dangerous Suplex. A wicked kamengiri from Taichi had SHO down, but the referee was distracted by EVIL in the corner. As things looked bleak for the Murder Machine, HOUSE OF TORTURE made their dastardly move; SHO ensuring the referee was taken out of action so Dick Togo could craftily toss powder into Taichi’s face. A low-blow follow up had SHO set to use his favorite wrench, but the returning Yoshinobu Kanemaru came in, ostensibly to make the save.
In a shocking move, Kanemaru would instead spit whisky into Taichi’s face, then laying him out with the whisky bottle before revealing a HOUSE OF TORTURE shirt and hitting Touch Out. The betrayal complete and Taichi vulnerable, SHO handily unleashed Shock Arrow to defeat Taichi and win the KOPW 2023 Provisional Championship.
Post-match, Kanemaru made his intentions clear, attacking his now former Just Five Guys allies at ringside. With a new numbers advantage, EVIL accepted SANADA’s challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match at Destruction in Ryogoku to be a lumberjack match.
