SHO clinches junior title in despicable fashion
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship was on the line February 23 in Sapporo as El Desperado sought his second defence since winning the title in January, facing HOUSE OF TORTURE’s SHO.
Not wanting to spend any time labouring under HOUSE OF TORTURE’s usual antics, Desperado had evidently attacked SHO backstage and dragged him through the curtain to start the match early. Bringing his challenger into the ring, the bell sounded to start an assault on the knee of SHO, who escaped out of bounds and then used the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship belt to drop Desperado and create distance. Taking advantage of the ill gotten gains, SHO would follow up with Snake Bite in the ring, and the champion laboured under the punishing blood choke for a long time, finally making the ropes, but with conditioned weakened for much of the action to come.
SHO would dictate the pace with the champion’s offence fleetng, mainly with shots to the already weakened knee. When Desperado thought that he would be able to find Numero Dos though, the lights went down, coming up to Yoshinobu Kanemaru joining SHO and starting an attack on the outside that was broken up by Ryusuke Taguchi. Again the champion was back int he fight and again SHO found his knee jeapordised, but when Pinche Loco was looming, the challenger ensured the referee was crushed in the corner.
Using a chair to the head of Desperado as he was charging in on a dive, SHO capitalised with a second shot that exploded another chair on the champion’s skull. Desperado responded with an almighty swing to SHO, who was trapped in a seated frame of a second chair, putting both men spent and down for the referee’s twenty count. Both champion and challenger fought to get back into the ring, but out of sight of the official, Ren Narita came from underneath the ring and choked out Desperado, granting SHO the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on a disgraceful countout.
