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Bullet Club is the most decorated faction in the world of professional wrestling today. Formed in 2013 by current WWE NXT Superstar Finn Balor, the Bullet Club currently consists of some of the finest pro wrestlers from all around the world.
Throughout the years, Bullet Club has experienced the rich heritage of having some of the best professional wrestlers in the group, including the likes of AJ Styles, Adam Cole, Kenny Omega, and Cody Rhodes - superstars who are currently affiliated with either WWE or AEW.
It goes without saying that Bullet Club's massive star-power also helped New Japan Pro Wrestling in receiving worldwide attention, and the faction's dominance also helped the promotion attain a following in the United States of America. Bullet Club was already an established name in the US, thanks to the faction's work under Ring of Honor, and Kenny Omega's IWGP US Championship win at the G1 Special in USA, 2017 was the initial phase of NJPW's western expansion.
However, within these past four years, things have changed a lot for Bullet Club. Three of the faction's top names in the form of AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows departed for WWE. Elsewhere, Bullet Club and The Elite had a fallout among themselves, which led to departure of Kenny Omega, Cody, The Young Bucks, and led to the establishment of All Elite Wrestling.
Despite losing some major names over the years, BC is still going strong with the likes of Jay White, Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale, KENTA, and Taiji Ishimori, as the frontrunners of the group. The Bullet Club, however, has lived up to their motto of taking over the wrestling world and have certainly influenced both AEW and WWE NXT with their present-day superstars.
Former Bullet Club member and former WWE Superstar, Luke Gallows recently admitted to the fact that the BC did revolutionize pro wrestling and is responsible for the success of AEW and WWE NXT.
In this article, I've listed out the 5 major reasons why Bullet Club has had such a huge impact on the success of both AEW and WWE NXT.
#5. Hangman 'Adam' Page's standout performances as a member of Bullet Club
Hangman Page has been one of All Elite Wrestling's star performers since it started. He's incredibly talented in the ring and has established his place as one of the most over superstars in the company today.
Page initially started out as a singles wrestler in AEW and even challenged for AEW World Championship in the inaugural world title match. Since his loss to Chris Jericho though, Page has transitioned himself quite well and has made the jump to the tag team division. So much so, he's currently in possession of the AEW World Tag Team Championships with Kenny Omega.
It can be said that Page first broke out as a singles wrestler when he joined Bullet Club, as he caught the faction's eye with his remarkable in-ring performances and BC/The Elite also helped him develop an interesting persona.
Page's in-ring performances also caught the eye of New Japan management, who in 2018, decided to include 'The Hangman' in the G1 Climax 28 where he was presented with the opportunity to share the ring with Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Minoru Suzuki in singles matches.
The reigning AEW Tag Team Champion's performances as part of Bullet Club made him a fan-favorite and Page has carried all that momentum into his AEW career, as well.
#4. Adam Cole being the driving force of NXT
Former Bullet Club member Adam Cole is arguably WWE NXT's hottest superstar right now and has been the NXT Champion for well over a year. Not only that, but Cole is also the leader of The Undisputed Era, who many consider as the best faction in WWE right now.
However, prior to signing with WWE, Cole was part of another top faction - Bullet Club. At ROH: Global Wars, 2016, Cole made his surprise return to the promotion and this time under a Bullet Club shirt. 'The Panama City Playboy', along with The Young Bucks and The Guerillas of Destiny, crashed the event and made quite the mark on his first night as a member of BC.
Since then, Cole brought the ROH World Championship to the Bullet Club and was the group's frontrunner in the US, with Kenny Omega being at the top of the realm in NJPW. Cole leading a group that consisted the likes of The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, and Adam Page certainly helped the former ROH World Champion during his tenure in the promotion.
That probably also goes on to explain how good of a leader he has been for The Undisputed Era and how beneficial he has been for the Black and Yellow brand of NXT as their top champion.
#3. Cody's massive rise to stardom
Cody Rhodes is currently at the top of his game. The former Bullet Club member is running his own promotion in the form of AEW, with his some of his best friends in the business, and is also the reigning and inaugural TNT Champion for the promotion.
Bullet Club has certainly played a huge part in Cody's rise to stardom following his departure from WWE in 2016. That very same year, he was revealed as the newest member of Bullet Club and for his debut match, the 'American Nightmare' defeated Juice Robinson at WrestleKingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome.
As part of Bullet Club, Cody got off to the perfect start and slowly leaped up the ranks of the group. After Kenny Omega's second unsuccessful attempt at winning the IWGP Heavyweight Title, Cody stepped up to 'The Rainmaker' and called for his shot at the title. Despite failing to win the IWGP Heavyweight Title, the 'American Nightmare' had made quite the statement in NJPW.
Over on the ROH side of things, Cody had already won the ROH World Championship at Final Battle 2017, and in the aftermath to Wrestle Kingdom 12, he finally did the unthinkable and turned his back on Kenny Omega, in his quest to become the leader of Bullet Club.
That, of course, led to the incredible Bullet Club Civil War, which culminated at G1 Special in San Francisco with Cody unsuccessfully challenging Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. But, the night ended with the two men reconciling with each other, as the Bullet Club OGs betrayed The Elite.
This eventually led to The Elite breaking away from The BC and becoming a faction of their own and while the drama unfolded, Cody had already attained a huge level of star-power, as he and rest of The Elite crew (with the exception of Marty Scurll) proceeded to form All Elite Wrestling. Therefore, it could very well be said that Bullet Club sure did provide a huge platform for Cody.
#2. Finn Balor's influence on NXT
Finn Balor is one of the OGs of Bullet Club - along with Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, and Karl Anderson - and the former New Japan sensation stands as the first leader and originator of the legendary faction. In 2013, Balor finally broke away from his tag-team partner Ryusuke Taguchi and formed Bullet Club and that pretty much was the beginning of a revolution in pro wrestling.
Balor rose to stardom in no time, alongside Bullet Club, and despite being a Jr. Heavyweight, he made quite the impact on the Heavyweight Division, as well. The former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion brought in the likes of The Young Bucks and Doc Gallows into the BC before he eventually departed for WWE.
After signing with WWE, Balor made an immediate impact on NXT, he even brought his Demon persona with him and became a polarizing figure for the brand. In 2015, Balor won the NXT Championship from Kevin Owens in Japan and enjoyed a legendary reign with the title.
Balor's reign lasted for 292 days and, at one point in time, he was also the longest-reigning NXT Champion in history. He was quite the driving force for the NXT brand and was a primary reason for its success. 'The Demon King' was also the kingpin of a division that consisted of some of the finest in the form of Sami Zayn, Neville, and Kevin Owens among other top names.
Balor had quite the influence on NXT during his initial run and was a crucial part of NXT establishing itself as a prominent brand. In 2019, the former Bullet Club leader made his return to NXT and has enjoyed another terrific run in the brand so far, and if everything goes accordingly for him, the WWE Universe could be in for another Finn Balor run as NXT Champion.
Balor even led his own version of Bullet Club - Balor Club - which also consisted of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows (not to be confused with The O.C.) - while he was on the main roster, even having a moment with a reunited De-Generation X on the special 25th Anniversary episode of Monday Night RAW.
All of this was possible because a certain Prince Devitt decided to start a certain group called Bullet Club.
#1. Birth of The Elite
The Elite was first formed in 2016 when Kenny Omega decided to turn his back on AJ Styles, kick him out of Bullet Club, and take over the leadership reign from 'The Phenomenal One'.
The original Elite trio consisted of Omega and The Young Bucks, however, as time gradually progressed, more members were added to BC who then directly became associated with The Elite.
Over the years, we've seen the likes of Cody Rhodes, Hangman Page, and Marty Scurll join Bullet Club - and eventually create The Elite sub-group within the faction. Therefore, it's safe to say that without The Bullet Club, there would be no Elite, and maybe no All Elite Wrestling, as well. If it wasn't for BC, there wouldn't be the formation of The Elite and maybe we wouldn't be graced upon with the existence of All Elite Wrestling.
The likes of Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and other members of The Elite are superstars of their own right and while they were household names in NJPW and ROH, their alignment with The Bullet Club certainly made them bigger superstars.
Not just for The Elite but Bullet Club has certainly been a huge turning point for some of the biggest names in the wrestling world, an elusive list that contains the likes of reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion, AJ Styles, NXT Champion Adam Cole, AEW's Kenny Omega, and even New Japan, and BC's current front-runner Jay White.
