History Wrestling / BulletClub

At Sakura Genesis 2023, El Phantasmo's defiance towards the new leader saw Finlay take further steps to establish control by excommunicating the Headbanga, although it may not be so clear cut, as ELP had begun teasing his support once more for the Switchblade. The Rebel's next move saw him induct the NJPW LA Dojo alumnus '''Clark Connors''' into the ranks as his first recruit, after which Connors entered a brief feud with United Kingdom upstart Dan Moloney. Come Dominion 6.4.2023, not only did Connors convince '''Drilla Moloney''' to defect from Wrestling/TheUnitedEmpire, Finlay reached out to more LA Dojo alumni in '''Alex Coughlin''' and '''Gabriel Kidd''' as they joined The Club as well; the quintet would form a new subgroup called ''Bullet Club War Dogs'' to crystallize Finlay's roughhousing philosophy.\\

Over in AEW, White and Robinson made their intentions known to dominate their new home the same way they did with New Japan as the Club, but under different colors, leading to the creation of Bullet Club Gold, a stable which would later add the sons of Wrestling/BillyGunn to its ranks (more on BC Gold's section below). NJPW video packages about the collective state of Bullet Club would include War Dogs, House of Torture, and BC Gold, as well as Bad Luck Fale's exploits in New Zealand and Australia with his '''Rogue Army''' recruits (consisting of '''Jack Bonza''', '''Lyrebird Luchi''', '''Caveman Ugg''', and '''The Natural Classics''' [brothers '''Tome and Stevie Filip''']), confirming that all these groups are considered part of Bullet Club. Despite this, all of them operate seemingly independent of each other and are even tangentially opposed, with EVIL and Finlay's troupes coming to blows during their G1 Climax match and the members of War Dogs taking occasional verbal shots at White, Robinson, and even WWE's OC, with '''Jack Perry''' joining House of Torture in the first round of ''New Japan Cup''. Whether all these sub-groups can ultimately align as one or they will outright splinter apart as separate factions remains to be seen, as the Rebellious Era of Bullet Club seems to be both outwardly and internally living up to its name...

During this time Jay White made special appearances in All Elite Wrestling where he courted a friendship with Adam Cole, leading to a curious working relationship between Bullet Club and [[Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra The Undisputed]] [[Wrestling/TheElite Elite]] heading into the joint AEW/NJPW supershow Forbidden Door, while The Elite's usual leader Kenny Omega was absent due to injury. At said show, The Young Bucks had a one-time reunion with The Club to team up alongside El Phantasmo in a trios match against Sting, Darby Allin and a visiting Shingo Takagi, coming away with a loss. Cole, meanwhile, took part in a four-way match for Jay's IWGP World Heavyweight Championship also involving Okada and "Hangman" Adam Page, which would be his last match of 2022 as Jay pinned him after he succumbed to a concussion. The angle would be largely phased out afterwards, though Jay continued to reference Cole as his friend ever since.\\

At Sakura Genesis 2023, El Phantasmo's defiance towards the new leader saw Finlay take further steps to establish control by excommunicating the Headbanga, although it may not be so clear cut, as ELP had begun teasing his support once more for the Switchblade. The Rebel's next move saw him induct the NJPW LA Dojo alumnus '''Clark Connors''' into the ranks as his first recruit, after which Connors entered a brief feud with United Kingdom upstart Dan Moloney. Come Dominion 6.4.2023, not only did Connors convince '''Drilla Maloney''' to defect from Wrestling/TheUnitedEmpire, Finlay reached out to more LA Dojo alumni in '''Alex Coughlin''' and '''Gabriel Kidd''' as they joined The Club as well; the quintet would form a new subgroup called ''Bullet Club War Dogs'' to crystallize Finlay's roughhousing philosophy.\\

Over in AEW, White and Robinson made their intentions known to dominate their new home the same way they did with New Japan as the Club, but under different colors, leading to the creation of Bullet Club Gold, a stable which would later add the sons of Wrestling/BillyGunn to its ranks (more on BC Gold's section below). NJPW video packages about the collective state of Bullet Club would include War Dogs, House of Torture, and BC Gold, as well as Bad Luck Fale's exploits in New Zealand and Australia with his '''Rogue Army''' recruits (consisting of '''Jack Bonza''', '''Lyrebird Luchi''', '''Caveman Ugg''', and '''The Natural Classics''' [brothers '''Tome and Stevie Filip''']), confirming that all these groups are considered part of Bullet Club. Despite this, all of them operate seemingly independent of each other and are even tangentially opposed, with EVIL and Finlay's troupes coming to blows during their G1 Climax match and the members of War Dogs taking occasional verbal shots at White, Robinson, and even WWE's OC. Whether all these sub-groups can ultimately align as one or they will outright splinter apart as separate factions remains to be seen, as the Rebellious Era of Bullet Club seems to be both outwardly and internally living up to its name...

* MultinationalTeam: In the Bullet Club's long history, there have been representatives from the United States,[[note]]Cole, Owens, Rhodes, Page, the Bucks, Tanga Loa, Kazarian, Styles, Gallows, Anderson, Hall, Robinson, Austin, Bey, Connors, the Gunns and Coughlin[[/note]] in addition to Tonga,[[note]]Fale, Hikuleo and Tama[[/note]] Japan,[[note]]Takahashi and his dancers, the original Bone Soldier, Ishimori, Gedo, Jado, KENTA and EVIL[[/note]] Ireland[[note]]Devitt[[/note]], Canada[[note]]Omega, Amell and El Phantasmo[[/note]], Australia[[note]]Gambino and Eagles[[/note]], New Zealand[[note]]White[[/note]] and the United Kingdom[[note]]Scurll, Kidd and Finlay[[/note]].

* MeaningfulName: Tangaroa ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS also spelled Takaroa, Tangaloa, etc.]]) is one of the oldest Polynesian deities, whose legend varies depending on which island culture. In Tongan myth, he's the progenitor of an entire ''family'' of sky gods who were the ancestors of the first Tongan kings. Now the Guerrillas of Destiny become more significant when you remember both the acronym to their name as well as who [[Wrestling/{{Meng}} their father]] is.

At Sakura Genesis 2023, El Phantasmo's defiance towards the new leader saw Finlay take further steps to establish control by excommunicating the Headbanga, although it may not be so clear cut, as ELP had begun teasing his support once more for the Switchblade. The new leader's next move saw him induct the NJPW LA Dojo alumnus '''Clark Connors''' into the ranks as his first recruit, followed by Connors slowly winning over rival '''Drilla Maloney''' while Finlay reached out to more LA Dojo alumni in '''Alex Coughlin''' and '''Gabriel Kidd'''; the three would all join the gang in June, creating the ''Bullet Club War Dogs'' subgroup to crystallize Finlay's roughhousing philosophy. Over in AEW, White and Robinson made their intentions known to dominate their new home the same way they did with New Japan as the Club, but under different colors, leading to the creation of Bullet Club Gold.\\

NJPW video packages about the collective state of Bullet Club would include War Dogs, House of Torture, and Bullet Club Gold, as well as Bad Luck Fale's exploits in New Zealand and Australia with his '''Rogue Army''' recruits (consisting of '''Jack Bonza''', '''Lyrebird Luchi''', '''Caveman Ugg''', and '''The Natural Classics''' [brothers '''Tome and Stevie Filip''']), confirming that all these groups are considered part of Bullet Club. Despite this, all of them operate seemingly independent of each other and are even tangentially opposed, with EVIL and Finlay's troupes coming to blows during their G1 Climax match and the members of War Dogs taking occasional verbal shots at White, Robinson, and even WWE's OC. Whether all these sub-groups can ultimately align as one or they will outright splinter apart as separate factions remains to be seen, as the Rebellious Era of Bullet Club seems to be both outwardly and internally living up to its name...

Having been a perennial midcarder prior to his sudden takeover, Finlay at the top of The Club was faced with more questions than answers. In order to assert his credibility as a new leader, Finlay swore to win the 2023 New Japan Cup and then defeat Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. However, his violent replacement of The Switchblade had already given a bad impression to at least one member of The Club, with El Phantasmo showing clear reticence at having to work with Finlay, much to The Rebel's frustration. Two further developments haven't helped much in that regard: not only did the Rebel fail to win the New Japan Cup with a loss to SANADA, but Jay's signing with AEW showed him still bearing Bullet Club iconography and aligned with fellow Club member Juice Robinson.

At Sakura Genesis 2023, El Phantasmo's defiance towards the new leader saw Finlay take further steps to establish control by excommunicating the Headbanga, although it may not be so clear cut, as ELP had begun teasing his support once more for the Switchblade, while the new leader had inducted the LA Dojo alumnus '''Clark Connors''' into the ranks as his first recruit, with NJPW LA Dojo alumni '''Alex Coughlin''' and '''Gabriel Kidd''' joining in June as ''Bullet Club War Dogs''. Over in AEW, White and Robinson made their intentions known to dominate their new home the same way they did with New Japan as the Club, but under different colors, leading to the creation of Bullet Club Gold; whether it acts as a sub-group aligned with the main branch in Japan or an outright splinter faction remains to be seen, but none can doubt that the Switchblade era of Bullet Club is done yet...

Much like The Super Elite, Bullet Club Gold is treated with opposition by members of NJPW's Bullet Club, specifically new leader David Finlay and his "War Dogs" recruits from the NJPW LA Dojo. Unlike The Super Elite, BC Gold has not backed off using Bullet Club branding and, based on timing of events, seem to have maintained rights to the franchise, much to the consternation of Finlay's regime. Curiously enough, despite ex-NJPW member El Phantasmo's predictions, neither of the two groups so much as appeared at the 2023 ''Forbidden Door''...

** During the time Kenny Omega was building his version of Bullet Club in AEW and IMPACT with The Good Brothers and The Young Bucks, KENTA cracked [[{{Crossover}} the forbidden door]] to force Moxley to put the IWGP United States Championship on the line.[[note]]Moxley had held the IWGP US Championship undisturbed since the COVID pandemic started, focusing entirely on defending and now trying to reclaim the AEW World Championship, all the while KENTA had not only earned the right to challenge Moxley, but successfully defended said right like a championship in and of itself several times. When Wrestle Kingdom saw KENTA defend his briefcase and Moxley finally express interest in putting his title on the life from the safety of the NJPW Strong ring in America, KENTA grew tired of waiting and went to confront Moxley in America, leading to both a confrontation in the Strong ring and KENTA's AEW debut.[[/note]] This led to a tag match with Omega and KENTA paired together, although KENTA didn't seem too thrilled with Omega, as the homebase Bullet Club leaders are displeased that members of The OC would align with The Elite and allow them to claim Bullet Club.

* DefectorFromDecadence: Frankie Kazarian temporarily joined for a spell, only to reveal that it was ruse to aid Christopher Daniels in his feud with Adam Cole over the ROH World Championship. A more straight example would be Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi initially aligning themselves with the Elite contingent when the civil war occurred, and even did so for a spell after the Elite split from Bullet Club formally. Eventually, they returned to the OG group under Jay White's leadership. ''NJPW Southern Showdown'' saw Robbie Eagles defect from Bullet Club to CHAOS at the culmination of a storyline where Phantasmo cheating Eagles out of their match at ''Best of the Super Juniors'' and then repeatedly undermining him for the rest of the tour afterwards caused Eagles to become conflicted about taking part in Bullet Club's dirty tactics, which Wrestling/WillOspreay sensed and took advantage of to reextend his CHAOS invite to Eagles. Following their IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match at ''Summer Showdown'', Eagles punched Phantasmo out of his way and shook hands with Ospreay, then refused to attack Will with a chair or let Jay White do so the following night, attacking White instead and standing with Ospreay.

** In an interview, Jay White said he considers the O.C. to be part of the Club regardless of what company they're working for, even calling Mia Yim a full-fledged member.

** One of Yujiro's valets during The 2015 World Tag League came out dressed up and dancing as [[VideoGame/StreetFighter Chun-Li]].

During this time Jay White made special appearances in All Elite Wrestling where he courted a friendship with Adam Cole, leading to a curious working relationship between Bullet Club and [[Wrestling/The UndisputedEra The Undisputed]] [[Wrestling/TheElite Elite]] heading into the joint AEW/NJPW supershow Forbidden Door, while The Elite's usual leader Kenny Omega was absent due to injury. At said show, The Young Bucks had a one-time reunion with The Club to team up alongside El Phantasmo in a trios match against Sting, Darby Allin and a visiting Shingo Takagi, coming away with a loss. Cole, meanwhile, took part in a four-way match for Jay's IWGP World Heavyweight Championship also involving Okada and "Hangman" Adam Page, which would be his last match of 2022 as Jay pinned him after he succumbed to a concussion. The angle would be largely phased out afterwards, though Jay continued to reference Cole as his friend ever since.\\

During this time Jay White made special appearances in All Elite Wrestling where he courted a friendship with Adam Cole, leading to a curious working relationship between Bullet Club and [[Wrestling/{{The Undisputed|Era}}]] [[Wrestling/TheElite Elite]] heading into the joint AEW/NJPW supershow Forbidden Door, while The Elite's usual leader Kenny Omega was absent due to injury. At said show, The Young Bucks had a one-time reunion with The Club to team up alongside El Phantasmo in a trios match against Sting, Darby Allin and a visiting Shingo Takagi, coming away with a loss. Cole, meanwhile, took part in a four-way match for Jay's IWGP World Heavyweight Championship also involving Okada and "Hangman" Adam Page, which would be his last match of 2022 as Jay pinned him after he succumbed to a concussion. The angle would be largely phased out afterwards, though Jay continued to reference Cole as his friend ever since.\\

During this time Jay White made special appearances in All Elite Wrestling where he courted a friendship with Adam Cole, leading to a curious working relationship between Bullet Club and [[Wrestling/{{The Undisputed|Era}} [[Wrestling/TheElite Elite]] heading into the joint AEW/NJPW supershow Forbidden Door, while The Elite's usual leader Kenny Omega was absent due to injury. At said show, The Young Bucks had a one-time reunion with The Club to team up alongside El Phantasmo in a trios match against Sting, Darby Allin and a visiting Shingo Takagi, coming away with a loss. Cole, meanwhile, took part in a four-way match for Jay's IWGP World Heavyweight Championship also involving Okada and "Hangman" Adam Page, which would be his last match of 2022 as Jay pinned him after he succumbed to a concussion. The angle would be largely phased out afterwards, though Jay continued to reference Cole as his friend ever since.\\

* ArcSymbol: A skull with two AK-47s in an "X" formation. Most of the Club's members have their own takes on the logo: the Young Bucks have a variant with a deer skull, Kenny Omega's is in an 8-bit fashion with an Omega symbol, Cody Rhodes' has the American flag painted on the skull, Scurll's logo has a bird skull and two umbrellas instead of [=AKs=], G.O.D.'s version includes their facial paint, later replaced with a gorilla skull, and White's logo[[labelnote:*]]which was actually introduced briefly after his rejection of Omega and then brought back for good after he joined BCOG[[/labelnote]] has two switchblades knives instead of the [=AKs=], mixed PeekABangs covered on the skull's right side. El Phantasmo's variant has the skull wearing shutter shades.

The self-proclaimed "High Rollers" of the "Bang Bang Gang" proceeded to torment Starks while establishing Jay's foothold in the promotion, while Ricky sometimes gained help from members of Wrestling/ThePinnacle faction such as Shawn Spears and Wrestling/{{FTR}} to fend them off. Come June, White would be assisted in defeating Starks by a run-in from former AEW Tag Team Champions '''Austin and Colten Gunn''', with Robinson coming out and signaling his thumbs-up after the fact, signaling an alignment between The Gunns and Bullet Club Gold.

Much like The Super Elite, Bullet Club Gold is treated with opposition by members of NJPW's Bullet Club, specifically new leader David Finlay and his "War Dogs" recruits from the NJPW LA Dojo. Unlike The Super Elite, BC Gold has not backed off using Bullet Club branding and, based on timing of events, seem to have maintained rights to the franchise, much to the consternation of Finlay's regime. Ex-NJPW member El Phantasmo seems to believe something will happen between the two groups at the next ''Forbidden Door''...

As an active member of Bullet Club since May 2022, '''Juice Robinson''' would begin making appearances with both All Elite Wrestling and Impact Wrestling over the ensuing few months, before signing with AEW in December of that year. In March 2023 he picked a feud with Ricky Starks, set to culminate in a one-on-one match on the April 5 episode of AEW Dynamite...only for Jay White to appear before Starks could even hit the ring. Interestingly, White was still bearing Bullet Club iconography despite having been assumed gone from the group after he was forced out of NJPW two months earlier, and aligned with Robinson in assaulting Starks. Jay and Juice established Bullet Club Gold as the "greatest era of Bullet Club", while making exclusive use of the finger gun as their signature gesture in lieu of the "Too Sweet" Turkish Wolf.

Cole and his cohorts turned on The Young Bucks shortly after the event, only for injuries to take them out of action before anything could develop. Omega would soon return from his own injury to rejoin the now-babyface Elite in competing for, and twice holding, the AEW Trios Championship. Cole would return to action in March 2023 as a babyface with full support of the crowd after his real-life concussion battle. To add further intrigue, Juice Robinson would sign with AEW in December 2022 as an active member of Bullet Club, with Jay White following suit in April 2023 while still bearing Bullet Club iconography despite having been assumed gone from the group after he was forced out of NJPW two months earlier, and the first new members to join this offshoot are '''Austin''' and '''Colten Gunn''', who helped White in his match against Ricky Starks.

At Sakura Genesis 2023, El Phantasmo's defiance towards the new leader saw Finlay take further steps to establish control by excommunicating the Headbanga, although it may not be so clear cut, as ELP had begun teasing his support once more for the Switchblade, while the new leader had inducted the LA Dojo alumnus '''Clark Connors''' into the ranks as his first recruit. Over in AEW, White and Robinson made their intentions known to dominate their new home the same way they did with New Japan as the Club, but under different colors, leading to the creation of Bullet Club Gold; whether it acts as a sub-group aligned with the main branch in Japan or an outright splinter faction remains to be seen, but none can doubt that the Switchblade era of Bullet Club is done yet...

Cole and his cohorts turned on The Young Bucks shortly after the event, only for injuries to take them out of action before anything could develop. Omega would soon return from his own injury to rejoin the now-babyface Elite in competing for, and twice holding, the AEW Trios Championship. Cole would return to action in March 2023 as a babyface with full support of the crowd after his real-life concussion battle. To add further intrigue, Juice Robinson would sign with AEW in December 2022 as an active member of Bullet Club, with Jay White following suit in April 2023 while still bearing Bullet Club iconography despite having been assumed gone from the group after he was forced out of NJPW two months earlier.

* MultinationalTeam: In the Bullet Club's long history, there have been representatives from the United States,[[note]]Cole, Owens, Rhodes, Page, the Bucks, Tanga Loa, Kazarian, Styles, Gallows, Anderson, Hall, Robinson, Austin, Bey and Connors[[/note]] in addition to Tonga,[[note]]Fale, Hikuleo and Tama[[/note]] Japan,[[note]]Takahashi and his dancers, the original Bone Soldier, Ishimori, Gedo, Jado, KENTA and EVIL[[/note]] Ireland[[note]]Devitt[[/note]], Canada[[note]]Omega, Amell and El Phantasmo[[/note]], Australia[[note]]Gambino and Eagles[[/note]], New Zealand[[note]]White[[/note]] and the United Kingdom[[note]]Scurll and Finlay[[/note]].

* {{Oireland}}: Devitt hails from Ireland.

[[folder: Rebel Club Era: David Finlay w/Gedo]]

** We got one to a ''different'' company and club. Once upon a time in Wrestling/{{TNA}} there was a pack called the Wrestling/AcesAndEights, which Doc was a part of, only to leave after the group passed him over for Vice President in favor of [[Wrestling/KenAnderson a different Mr. Anderson]].[[note]][[RealLifeWritesThePlot In reality]] TNA had neglected to renegotiate his contract before it ran out despite his best efforts to notify them.[[/note]] Then over a year later, two particular brothers who formerly led that pack decided to make a direct challenge to the Bullet Club when TNA held Bound for Glory in Japan. Fast forward again, nearly two more years later to the night after ''Wrestling/SummerSlam'', Wrestling/TheDudleyBoyz, announced their departure after a full year back in WWE. In came Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows jumping the Dudleyz, driving both Bubba Ray onto the outside floor and D-Von through a table in the ring with the Magic Killer, [[GenreSavvy destroying them with no chance of retaliation]] (at least directly, anyway; Bully Ray would resurface entering a feud against the ROH contingent of Bullet Club).

* IronicNickname: Ironic in the sense that you wouldn't expect things to end up that way, rather than named that way from the start. Still, going by his independent/shoot appearances and eventual return to WWE, the character name of Anderson's larger counterpart is actually ''Luke'' Gallows—Doc is short for ''[[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Director Of Chaos]]'', his position in Wrestling/AcesAndEights before it was forced to disband.

** The spin-off faction in WWE consisting of Styles, Anderson and Gallows is simply called The Club. WWE social media name-dropped the Bullet Club when the latter two made their debut. Wrestling/JohnCena seems to care just little about trademarks, though, referring to them mockingly as the [[ADateWithRosiePalms Pull-It Club]] while making it sound as similar to Bullet Club as he can whenever given the chance. When Styles appeared on Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} and Wrestling/{{Christian}}'s show on the WWE Network, they did mention the group by name, although the two joked that the WWE would end up renaming it the Mullet Club. When they reconvened in 2019, they became known as The OC.

At Sakura Genesis 2023, El Phantasmo's defiance towards the new leader saw Finlay take further steps to establish control by excommunicating the Headbanga, although it may not be so clear cut, as ELP had begun teasing his support once more for the Switchblade. Over in AEW, White and Robinson made their intentions known to dominate their new home the same way they did with New Japan as the Club, but under different colors, leading to the creation of Bullet Club Gold; whether it acts as a sub-group aligned with the main branch in Japan or an outright splinter faction remains to be seen, but none can doubt that the Switchblade era of Bullet Club is done yet...

* MultinationalTeam: In the Bullet Club's long history, there have been representatives from the United States,[[note]]Cole, Owens, Rhodes, Page, the Bucks, Tanga Loa, Kazarian, Styles, Gallows, Anderson, Hall, Robinson, Austin and Bey[[/note]] in addition to Tonga,[[note]]Fale, Hikuleo and Tama[[/note]] Japan,[[note]]Takahashi and his dancers, the original Bone Soldier, Ishimori, Gedo, Jado, KENTA and EVIL[[/note]] Ireland[[note]]Devitt[[/note]], Canada[[note]]Omega, Amell and El Phantasmo[[/note]], Australia[[note]]Gambino and Eagles[[/note]], New Zealand[[note]]White[[/note]] and the United Kingdom[[note]]Scurll[[/note]].