The History Of Bullet Club Part 7. Bullet Club has become one of the most known stables within professional wrestling. You can watch any significant promotion and see a Bullet Club t-shirt being worn in the crowd, proving how popular this all-heel faction truly is within the wrestling community. Bullet Club was started in 2013 within the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion.
Since then, the club has had five leaders, leading up to a brand-new leader in 2020 after the New Japan Cup 2020 Final. Over seven parts, we will explore the history of Bullet Club and the different leaders who have held the reigns of this now-historical faction.
This week we dive back into the current leadership of Bullet Club and how the craziness of 2021 impacted the faction that ended 2020 with it all. This is the History of Bullet Club Part seven.
The History Of Bullet Club Part 7
A New Start To 2021 Filled With Uncertainty
With 2020 ending on a high for many members of the faction, January 2021 brought one of the biggest events of the company’s year: Wrestle Kingdom 15. What was expected to be an amazing two days for the faction ended in uncertainty? Jay White failed to beat Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles.
After the match, White cut a passionate promo stating, “Maybe my time should be spent somewhere else.” For many, the news that White’s contract might be close to expiring made them wonder what the future was for Switchblade
At New Year’s Dash the following day, this idea of Jay leaving became even more prominent after he took the pin in a ten-man tag team match against his former faction CHAOS. After Jay left that night, many were unsure of the faction’s future, but the faction couldn’t dwell on the possible departure of their leader.
On the Road to The New Beginning in January, El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori defeated El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship a second time. After that, it seems as if the faction would be fine.
The Switchblade Returns
Despite weeks of speculation about Jay’s contract with New Japan, White returned on February 1st on the Road to the New Beginning show after a month-long hiatus. After being beaten at New Year’s Dash, he came out in full force, attacking the man who had pinned him, Tomohiro Ishii, and starting another chapter to their feud.
Yet, Jay wasn’t the only Bullet Club member with something to prove. It continued to be a mixed bag of results for the faction.
Bullet Club realized that holding on to dominance is much more complicated than earning it during the Castle Attack tour. As a result, Ishimori and Phantasmo lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship back to Suzuki-Gun, and Evil lost to Kazuchika Okada. Yet, with Jay defeating Ishii and G.O.D., retaining their IWGP tag team titles wasn’t all doom and gloom.
On the other side of the world, Bullet Club continued to mark their dominance on New Japan Strong. Although losing his title match, KENTA went after Jon Moxley and his US title and reminded the world that you should never forget about him.
There Are Never Enough Members
With June and July bringing another set of mixed results, with G.O.D. losing their titles to Dangerous Tekkers and Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo defeating Roppongi 3K, it seemed as if the faction still had space to grow.
In July, Chris Bey wrestled Juice Robinson for Impact Wrestling. After the match, Jay White gave Bey a Bullet Club shirt, and the two threw up the “Too Sweet” and marked a new recruit to the faction. In Japan, the faction was growing as well. During the 2021 Super Junior Tag League tournament, the well-loved CHAOS tag team Roppongi 3k broke up after SHO betrayed YOH.
Fans were even more shocked after he accepted EVIL’s invitation into the Bullet Club and the new House of Torture faction alongside Yujiro and Gedo.
The End Of 2021 Brings New Challenges
With all of these new members, it seemed as if the possibilities were endless for the group. After becoming the true Grand Slam Champion by winning the NEVER Openweight Championship, Jay was out to cement the title as the premier belt and was doing well… until a visit from his old nemesis Ishii.
During Battle in the Valley in November, Jay lost the title to Ishii, and it seemed like another notch on Jay’s lack of luck during that year. Yet, in Japan, EVIL, SHO, and Dick Togo stamped their influence on the NEVER division after winning the 6-man titles off the CHAOS trio of Ishii, YOSHI HASHI, and Hirooki Goto.
As the end of the year approached, the faction members in Japan had the grueling Best of the Super Junior and World Tag League tournaments to tackle. Unfortunately, there were mixed results all around. SHO, Ishimori, and El Phantasmo showed promise during their matches but inevitably failed to reach the final.
However, SHO did some meddling to try and ruin YOH’s first time in the final. By failing this, SHO got angrier than ever and is set on ending the career of his former partner.
The History Of Bullet Club Part 7 – Varied Results Ahead
Bullet Club once again varied in results when it came to tag team action in the tournament. Surprisingly, G.O.D failed to make it to the final despite putting on some intense matches. However, EVIL and Yujiro (with a lot of help from Dick Togo) shocked fans by making it to the final with 16 points.
Yet, their cheating only went so far, and they failed to beat YOSHI HASHI and Hirooki Goto. Bullet Club ended the year on a less-than-positive note despite all their hard work.
With uncertainty going into Wrestle Kingdom 16 and only the NEVER 6-Man titles in the faction’s hands, they will need a miracle to reassert their dominance in 2022.
