History Wrestling / BulletClub

* UrExample: AJ Styles and Finn Bálor recruiting Liv Morgan, while in response to Edge and Damian Priest being joined in Judgment Day by Rhea Ripley, marked the first time a WWE wrestler with no prior NJPW/BC history was ever brought into one of their versions of The Club, as well as the second female wrestler after Amber Gallows to be treated as a full regular member of ''any'' version of Bullet Club.[[labelnote:*]]Brandi Rhodes was primarily there as a valet via Cody, much like Pieter and the rest of Yujiro's dancers.[[/labelnote]]

With the 2016 WWE draft and brand split, Styles was drafted to ''[[Wrestling/WWESmackDown SmackDown Live]]'' but Anderson and Gallows were drafted to ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw Raw]]'', separating them. However, Bálor was drafted to ''Raw'' (as a babyface), as well. Following a segment at Wrestling/SummerSlam which included all four men teasing a reunion, Styles defeated Cena cleanly, while Bálor became the first-ever WWE Universal Championship by defeating Wrestling/SethRollins (vacated it the next day due to injury). A month later Styles beat Wrestling/DeanAmbrose to become WWE World Champion. At ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble 2017'' Gallows and Anderson became WWE Raw Tag Team Champions by defeating Wrestling/TheBar. Less than a year after their debuts, all members of "The Club" had become a champion, though they were separated by brands and alignments. The spring of 2017 saw Gallows and Anderson used less on TV, and Bálor's return from an injury saw him working ''against'' them in minor matches. Though a Club reunion seemed dim, a viral outbreak in the locker room prior to the 2017 TLC pay-per-view PPV prompted Bálor and Styles to compete in an inter-brand replacement match, which WWE promoted as the first in-ring collision of the two former leaders of "The Club" when it was "in Japan". Though the ''two'' shared ''sweet'' moments, Gallows and Anderson were still not featured. By the end of 2017, there were no signs of any reunion of The Club.

January 2018, however…[[PuttingTheBandBackTogether Bálor would call on Gallows and Anderson to aid him in a six-man tag team match]], temporarily turning them Face. After that, they appeared twice more on TV as a cohesive unit, finally referring to themselves as the Bálor Club while also donning shirts reading OGBC, before Anderson and Gallows were drafted to ''[=SmackDown=]'' in the post-''Wrestling/WrestleMania'' Superstar Shake-Up. The pair teamed with Styles on one more TV appearance as of June 2018, before reuniting with him in a collective FaceHeelTurn in June 2019 after all four men switched brands. Bálor, meanwhile, turned heel after returning to (the now-televised) NXT in October, incorporating his prior attitude and mannerisms from his last year in Japan into a reignited persona, and putting him in television timeslot competition with The Elite on AEW. Styles, Anderson and Gallows moved to ''RAW'' and would become known as The OC[[note]]Short for "The Official, Original, Only Club That Matters"[[/note]], with notable moments including all three recapturing the United States (Styles) and Raw Tag Team (Gallows and Anderson) championships briefly, as well as Gallows and Anderson assisting AJ in his ''Wrestlemania 36'' feud against The Undertaker.[[note]]Due to that [=WrestleMania=]'s 2-night feature, and the unique match stipulation, technically all three got to fight in a [=WrestleMania=] main event.[[/note]]

This was ultimately the last appearance of Gallows and Anderson in WWE, as shortly thereafter they would be released due to UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic-related budget cuts, leaving only Styles and Bálor still under the WWE umbrella. Two years later, however, the two former Bullet Club leaders both found themselves in the crosshairs of Edge and his apprentice Damian Priest, who both turned heel against them separately on the same night before combining forces against Styles at [=WrestleMania 38=]. While mainly targeting Styles, the newly-christened Judgment Day tandem had "punishment" in store for Bálor as well, giving the two alumni a common enemy to finally join forces against. Which they did once Bálor came to the aid of Styles...on May 2, 2022, almost nine years to the day The Prince first formed The Club. Two weeks later, in response to The Judgment Day's addition of female bruiser Rhea Ripley complicating Styles and Bálor's efforts, this new iteration of WWE's version of The Club finally introduced a new WWE member, as well as a regular female wrestler, when they invited Ripley's betrayed former partner '''Wrestling/LivMorgan''' to join them. While this would seem to be short-term, given that it's a response to an immediate need in WWE, Styles has expressed on Twitter that this is only the beginning. In the end, Bálor would shortcut the entire thing by convincing Priest and Rhea to turn against Edge, retooling Judgment Day from Edge's faction to a trio of equals content to leave Styles and Morgan alone.

** Across the pond in [=McMahon=]-land, Styles, Anderson and Gallows went to war with the Anoa'i dynasty (specifically Reigns and the Usos) over the WWE Championship, and also faced off against John Cena, Dean Ambrose, and The New Day in 2016. In the brief Bálor Club run in early 2018, Finn and The Good Brothers' main rivalry was with Wrestling/TheMiz and his Miztourage, though they also briefly antagonized Wrestling/SethRollins, Roman Reigns… and Wrestling/JasonJordan (so no, it was not Wrestling/TheShield). In 2018 Nakamura's post-match attack on Styles at [=WrestleMania 34=] also paved the way for him to become enemies with Bálor the following year, and Anderson and Gallows had a front row seat to Wrestling/SamoaJoe's cruel baiting of AJ by using his family. The OC trio with Styles later added Ricochet, Viking Raiders and Braun Strowman to their rivals list in 2019 while also picking up where things left off with both New Day and Rollins. Styles and Bálor's enemies in 2022 were Wrestling/{{Edge}} and Damian Priest, to the point they effectively joined forces to take on The Judgment Day.

%% Also, don't put "Bullet Club", "The Elite", "The Club" and the like in bold. Per Administrivia/HowToCreateAWorksPage, no bolding for names of works. This isn't Wiki/TheOtherWiki.

When New Japan returned to having events in June 2020 upon adhering to social distancing guidelines, many of its key members -- White, KENTA, Fale, G.O.D. and Phantasmo chief among them -- were left overseas and out of the New Japan Cup. This didn't stop them from pulling out one more ace in the hole: '''Wrestling/{{EVIL|Wrestling}}''' shocked the world by not only beating Kazuchika Okada to win the whole tournament, but also turned his back on his comrades in Los Ingobernables de Japon by attacking Tetsuya Naito and defecting to Bullet Club; this decision would pay a mere 24 hours later, when EVIL defeated Naito to bring both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental championships simultaneously to his new crew, also bringing in '''Dick Togo''' as his elder teammate and manager. With Bullet Club now worldwide due to pandemic reasons, EVIL, Jay, and Tama declared that EVIL would "lead" and front the Bullet Club in Japan for now.\\

When New Japan returned to having events in June 2020 upon adhering to social distancing guidelines, many of its key members -- White, KENTA, Fale, G.O.D. and Phantasmo chief among them -- were left overseas and out of the New Japan Cup. This didn't stop them from pulling out one more ace in the hole: '''Wrestling/{{EVIL}}''' shocked the world by not only beating Kazuchika Okada to win the whole tournament, but also turned his back on his comrades in Los Ingobernables de Japon by attacking Tetsuya Naito and defecting to Bullet Club; this decision would pay a mere 24 hours later, when EVIL defeated Naito to bring both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental championships simultaneously to his new crew, also bringing in '''Dick Togo''' as his elder teammate and manager. With Bullet Club now worldwide due to pandemic reasons, EVIL, Jay, and Tama declared that EVIL would "lead" and front the Bullet Club in Japan for now.\\

After Cole and White both confirmed their friendship, and White affirmed his support specifically for The ''[[Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra Undisputed]]'' Elite, speculation abounded heading into the joint PPV event ''AEW × NJPW: Forbidden Door'' about what interaction would take place between Elite and Bullet Club members. The Young Bucks teamed with El Phantasmo and were accepted back into The Club on a one-night basis, though it was in a loss to Sting, Darby Allin, and Shingo Takagi, while Jay defended his newly-won IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against three men including Cole, who was covered by White to retain after ''dodging'' a Rainamker from former champion Okada (though this was later revealed to be the result of a concussion). The speculation continues...

Despite the end of AEW and Impact's relationship, both still had a mutual partner in New Japan, which led to the AEW debut of Jay White himself in a backstage segment which saw him aiding Cole and the Bucks -- apparently at Cole's request, as the Bucks seemed to be surprised at his presence. Citing his former ties to Bullet Club, Cole called in White as back-up for The Elite despite the tumultuous history both factions shared, and although Switchblade hasn't shown up as much in AEW just yet, his reintroduction of Gallows and Anderson to The Club as well as his role in Cole's machinations could lead to further interactions between BC and the largest off-shoot faction birthed from them. Especially after Cole and White both confirmed their friendship, and White affirmed his support specifically for The ''[[Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra Undisputed]]'' Elite...

This was ultimately the last appearance of Gallows and Anderson in WWE, as shortly thereafter they would be released due to UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic-related budget cuts, leaving only Styles and Bálor still under the WWE umbrella. Two years later, however, the two former Bullet Club leaders both found themselves in the crosshairs of Edge and his apprentice Damian Priest, who both turned heel against them separately on the same night before combining forces against Styles at [=WrestleMania 38=]. While mainly targeting Styles, the newly-christened Judgment Day tandem had "punishment" in store for Bálor as well, giving the two alumni a common enemy to finally join forces against. Which they did once Bálor came to the aid of Styles...on May 2, 2022, almost nine years to the day The Prince first formed The Club. Two weeks later, in response to The Judgment Day's addition of female bruiser Rhea Ripley complicating Styles and Bálor's efforts, this new iteration of WWE's version of The Club finally introduced a new WWE member, as well as a regular female wrestler, when they invited Ripley's betrayed former partner '''Wrestling/LivMorgan''' to join them. While this would seem to be short-term, given that it's a response to an immediate need in WWE, Styles has expressed on Twitter that this is only the beginning...

...and all of this was just in time for the joint AEW/NJPW supershow Forbidden Door.\\

[[folder: Cutthroat Era: Jay White w/Tama Tonga and Gedo]]

In late 2019, Gino Gambino made a surprise return to his home promotion (NJPW affiliate) ''Melbourne City Wrestling'' (MCW), attacking a visiting Will Ospreay. In his promo, he alluded to a war between CHAOS and Bullet Club to take place in 2020... Only for most 2020 wrestling plans to be put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting real life. Time will tell how Bullet Club wars with CHAOS, its members Ospreay and Eagles, and Shibata, in the future.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:REAL Era: Jay White and EVIL w/Tama Tonga]]

When New Japan returned to having events in June 2020 upon adhering to social distancing guidelines, many of its key members -- White, KENTA, Fale, G.O.D. and Phantasmo chief among them -- were left overseas and out of the New Japan Cup. This didn't stop them from pulling out one more ace in the hole: '''Wrestling/{{EVIL}}''' shocked the world by not only beating Kazuchika Okada to win the whole tournament, but also turned his back on his comrades in Los Ingobernables de Japon by attacking Tetsuya Naito and defecting to Bullet Club; this decision would pay a mere 24 hours later, when EVIL defeated Naito to bring both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental championships simultaneously to his new crew, also bringing in '''Dick Togo''' as his elder teammate and manager. With Bullet Club now worldwide due to pandemic reasons, EVIL, Jay, and Tama declared that EVIL would "lead" and front the Bullet Club in Japan for now.\\

The Club restacked their numbers with another former enemy of theirs during Wrestling Dontaku 2022; once a flamboyant babyface and member of the Sekigun, '''Juice Robinson''' returned to New Japan after much time spent in the US and attacked former ally Hiroshi Tanahashi to stake his claim as a challenger for the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship, while Jay White and the Good Brothers similarly made shock appearances, with the Switchblade once again declaring that he covets the IWGP World Heavywight Championship... just in time for the joint AEW/NJPW supershow Forbidden Door. With Bullet Club more stacked than before via representation in multiple promotions and even an alliance with some of their ex-alumni in play and with the Impact Wrestling X Division Champion '''Ace Austin''' joining their ranks at the ''Best of Super Juniors'' after helping the Club defeat the United Empire, it seems time for the once-dominant ''gaijin'' faction to prove that this is still their ERA...

The Club restacked their numbers with another former enemy of theirs during Wrestling Dontaku 2022; once a flamboyant babyface and member of the Sekigun, '''Juice Robinson''' returned to New Japan after much time spent in the US and attacked former ally Hiroshi Tanahashi to stake his claim as a challenger for the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship, while Jay White and the Good Brothers similarly made shock appearances, with the Switchblade once again declaring that he covets the IWGP World Heavywight Championship... just in time for the joint AEW/NJPW supershow Forbidden Door. With Bullet Club more stacked than before via representation in multiple promotions and even an alliance with some of their ex-alumni in play, it seems time for the once-dominant ''gaijin'' faction to prove that this is still their ERA...

* 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 and Bey[[/note]] in addition to Tonga,[[note]]Fale, Leo 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]].

Upon leaving NJPW, former Bullet Club leader Prince Devitt would make his WWE debut in the [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]] brand as '''Finn Bálor''', referencing his fanbase as the "Bálor Club", revitalizing NXT, and eventually becoming its record-setting champion. Heading into 2016, '''AJ Styles''' would make his debut at ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble 2016'' as a babyface, and the week after ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 32'', '''Gallows and Anderson''' debuted[[note]]Gallows had previously wrestled in WWE as the Impostor Kane, Festus, and as himself[[/note]] on ''Raw'' with a post-match run-in, attacking Styles' opponent Roman Reigns' cousins Wrestling/TheUsos. Despite his initial reluctance, AJ accepted their help and officially reunited "The Club" for a war of trios. After Styles failed to win the WWE World Championship at ''Extreme Rules'' with the help of Gallows and Anderson, Styles told them that they should separate and remain friends, but Anderson and Gallows refused and ended their friendship with Styles… only for that to be revealed as a ruse, as they reunited the next week to [[EngineeredHashtag #BeatUp]]Wrestling/JohnCena", firmly completing Styles' FaceHeelTurn, and establishing Anderson and Gallows as a Heel tag team.

This was ultimately the last appearance of Gallows and Anderson in WWE, as shortly thereafter they would be released due to UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic-related budget cuts, leaving only Styles and Bálor still under the WWE umbrella. Two years later, however, the two former Bullet Club leaders both found themselves in the crosshairs of Edge and his apprentice Damian Priest, who both turned heel against them separately on the same night before combining forces against Styles at [=WrestleMania 38=]. While mainly targeting Styles, the newly-christened Judgment Day tandem had "punishment" in store for Bálor as well, giving the two alumni a common enemy to finally join forces against. Which they did once Bálor came to the aid of Styles...on May 2, 2022, almost nine years to the day The Prince first formed The Club. Two weeks later, in response to The Judgment Day's addition of female bruiser Rhea Ripley complicating Styles and Bálor's efforts, this new iteration of WWE's version of The Club finally introduced a new WWE member, as well as a regular female wrestler, when they invited Ripley's betrayed former partner '''Wrestling/LivMorgan''' to join them. While this would seem to be short-term, given that is's a response to an immediate need in WWE, Styles has expressed on Twitter that this is only the beginning...

This was ultimately the last appearance of Gallows and Anderson in WWE, as shortly thereafter they would be released due to UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic-related budget cuts, leaving only Styles and Bálor still under the WWE umbrella. Two years later, however, the two former Bullet Club leaders both found themselves in the crosshairs of Edge and his apprentice Damian Priest, who both turned heel against them separately on the same night before combining forces against Styles at [=WrestleMania 38=]. While mainly targeting Styles, the newly-christened Judgment Day tandem had "punishment" in store for Bálor as well, giving the two alumni a common enemy to finally join forces against. Which they did once Bálor came to the aid of Styles...on May 2, 2022, almost nine years to the day The Prince first formed The Club. Two weeks later, in response to The Judgment Day's addition of female bruiser Rhea Ripley complicating Styles and Bálor's efforts, this new iteration of WWE's version of The Club finally introduced a new WWE member, as well as a regular female wrestler, when they invited Ripley's betrayed former partner '''Wrestling/LivMorgan''' to join them.

** Across the pond in [=McMahon=]-land, Styles, Anderson and Gallows went to war with the Anoa'i dynasty (specifically Reigns and the Usos) over the WWE Championship, and also faced off against John Cena, Dean Ambrose, and The New Day in 2016. In the brief Bálor Club run in early 2018, Finn and The Good Brothers' main rivalry was with Wrestling/TheMiz and his Miztourage, though they also briefly antagonized Wrestling/SethRollins, Roman Reigns… and Wrestling/JasonJordan (so no, it was not Wrestling/TheShield). In 2018 Nakamura's post-match attack on Styles at [=WrestleMania 34=] also paved the way for him to become enemies with Bálor the following year, and Anderson and Gallows had a front row seat to Wrestling/SamoaJoe's cruel baiting of AJ by using his family. The OC trio with Styles later added Ricochet, Viking Raiders and Braun Strowman to their rivals list in 2019 while also picking up where things left off with both New Day and Rollins.

This was ultimately the last appearance of Gallows and Anderson in WWE, as shortly thereafter they would be released due to UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic-related budget cuts, leaving only Styles and Bálor still under the WWE umbrella. Two years later, however, the two former Bullet Club leaders both found themselves in the crosshairs of Edge and his apprentice Damian Priest, who both turned heel against them separately on the same night before combining forces against Styles at [=WrestleMania 38=]. While mainly targeting Styles, the newly-christened Judgment Day tandem had "punishment" in store for Bálor as well, giving the two alumni a common enemy to finally join forces against. Which they did once Bálor came to the aid of Styles...on May 2, 2022, almost nine years to the day The Prince first formed The Club. Two weeks later, in response to The Judgment Day's addition of female bruiser Rhea Ripley complicating Styles and Bálor's efforts, this new iteration of WWE's version of The Club finally introduced a new WWE member, as well as a regular female wrestler, when they invited Ripley's betrayed former partner '''Wrestling/LivMorgan''' into the fold.

This was ultimately the last appearance of Gallows and Anderson in WWE, as shortly thereafter they would be released due to UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic-related budget cuts, leaving only Styles and Bálor still under the WWE umbrella. Two years later, however, the two former Bullet Club leaders both found themselves in the crosshairs of Edge and his apprentice Damian Priest, who both turned heel against them separately on the same night before combining forces against Styles at [=WrestleMania 38=]. While mainly targeting Styles, the newly-christened Judgment Day tandem had "punishment" in store for Bálor as well, giving the two alumni a common enemy to finally join forces against. Which they did once Bálor came to the aid of Styles...on May 2, 2022, almost nine years to the day The Prince first formed The Club.

The Tongans have signaled their approval to both of these recruits, as well as both Jay's and EVIL's activity in general, despite hints that the two may not be consulting one another on their endeavors. However, Jay would later intimate on social media that he may be out to make some changes, to which Tama responded by throwing some shade at his sense of control...\\

During Impact Wrestling's event No Surrender 2022, Jay White and Chris Bey turned their backs on both Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa by way of costing them the tag team championships for the Good Brothers. In doing so, G.o.D was kicked out of the club and the Good Brothers returned to the club fold. The Guerillas' excommunication was finalized during the 2022 New Japan Cup, where Tama and Loa made a case to have their fellow Club members turn against White; they (along with Jado) got subsequently beaten down by the remaining Club members on orders from Jay himself. The Club restacked their numbers with another former enemy of theirs during Wrestling Dontaku 2022; once a flamboyant babyface and member of the Sekigun, '''Juice Robinson''' returned to New Japan after much time spent in the US and attacked former ally Hiroshi Tanahashi to stake his claim as a challenger for the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship, while Jay White and the Good Brothers similarly made shock appearances, with the Switchblade once again declaring that he covets the IWGP World Heavywight Championship... just in time for the joint AEW/NJPW supershow Forbidden Door. With Bullet Club more stacked than before via representation in multiple promotions and even an alliance with some of their ex-alumni in play, it seems time for the once-dominant ''gaijin'' faction to prove that this is still their ERA...

During Impact Wrestling's event No Surrender 2022, Jay White and Chris Bey turned their backs on both Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa by way of costing them the tag team championships for the Good Brothers. In doing so, G.o.D was kicked out of the club and the Good Brothers returned to the club fold. The Guerillas' excommunication was finalized during the 2022 New Japan Cup, where Tama and Loa made a case to have their fellow Club members turn against White; they (along with Jado) got subsequently beaten down by the remaining Club members on orders from Jay himself.

It should be noted that unlike the WWE reunions with Styles and/or Bálor, Anderson and Gallows' association with The Elite was met with derision from active members of Bullet Club such as Tama Tonga, Jay White, and KENTA, decried them as a "bootleg Bullet Club" or "cheap knockoff reunion" and as such refused to associate them with the Bullet Club name. However, the two sides had yet to come to blows for several months, and KENTA had even teamed with Omega during a brief AEW visit due to common enmity with Moxley. This lasted until the month of August, where Jay and G.O.D. would confront the Good Brothers at Impact and NJPW Strong events respectively. The Super Elite would quietly disband in late 2021 after the working relationship between Impact and AEW ended, although it hasn't stopped the Club's enmity towards the Elite or the Good Brothers just yet...

Despite the end of AEW and Impact's relationship, both still had a mutual partner in New Japan, which led to the AEW debut of Jay White himself in a backstage segment which saw him aiding Cole and the Bucks -- apparently at Cole's request, as the Bucks seemed to be surprised at his presence. Citing his former ties to the Bullet Club, Cole called in White as back-up for the Elite despite the tumultuous history both factions shared, and although Switchblade hasn't shown up as much in AEW just yet, his reintroduction of Gallows and Anderson to the Club and Cole's machinations could lead to further interactions between the Club and the largest off-shoot faction birthed from them...

During Impact Wrestling's event No Surrender 2022, Jay White and Chris Bey turned their backs on both Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa by way of costing them the tag team championships for the Good Brothers. In doing so, G.o.D was kicked out of the club and the Good Brothers returned to the club fold.

The Tongans have signaled their approval to both of these recruits, as well as both Jay's and EVIL's activity in general, despite hints that the two may not be consulting one another on their endeavors. However, Jay would later intimate on social media that he may be out to make some changes, to which Tama responded by throwing some shade at his sense of control...

On April 15, 2020, Gallows and Anderson were released from their contracts with WWE as part of WWE's cost cutting measures. Anderson, Tama, and Fale then began teasing Anderson's return to Japan. While he and Gallows have not returned just yet, they have made Impact Wrestling their new home, and would soon reunite with an old ally; upon winning the AEW World Championship with the aid of Impact's Don Callis (himself an old color commentator ally of the Bullet Club during the days of the Elite), Kenny Omega would repeatedly cross over to Impact to reform his old ties with the Good Brothers, even explicitly mentioning their prior history with the Bullet Club by name. In turn, Gallows and Anderson appeared to invade AEW several times on Omega's behalf. This would later bring out the Young Bucks, who in turn joined this Bullet Club reunion, making the Good Brothers associates and later full fledged members (who also represent their home promotion of Wrestling/ImpactWrestling) of the Elite. While the Young Bucks were somewhat reluctant about the affair and initially refused to go along with Omega and company's plan of beating up Jon Moxley, the AEW Tag Team Champions would turn heel and fully align themselves with the group after some persuasion by Omega's manager Don Callis. Eventually, Hangman Page has become rather uneasy with Omega's underhanded and cruel tactics and started to sympathize with a rival group, Wrestling/TheDarkOrder. Omega, sensing weakness, kicked Page out of the group, but his place wouldn't be empty for long, as another Bullet Club member took it; the one that was ousted by Omega and the Bucks, but was welcomed back as a hero: Adam Cole.

It should be noted that unlike the WWE reunions with Styles and/or Bálor, Anderson and Gallows' association with The Elite was met with derision from active members of Bullet Club such as Tama Tonga, Jay White, and KENTA, decried them as a "bootleg Bullet Club" or "cheap knockoff reunion" and as such refused to associate them with the Bullet Club name. However, the two sides had yet to come to blows for several months, and KENTA had even teamed with Omega during a brief AEW visit due to common enmity with Moxley. This lasted until the month of August, where Jay and G.O.D. would confront the Good Brothers at Impact and NJPW Strong events respectively.

The Super Elite is another concept related to the Bullet Club via reference to its members' time in the Bullet Club, but unlike WWE who barely mentions their NJPW run, Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling has made explicit references to the members' run in NJPW.

On April 15, 2020, Gallows and Anderson were released from their contracts with WWE as part of WWE's cost cutting measures. Anderson, Tama, and Fale then began teasing Anderson's return to Japan. While he and Gallows have not returned just yet, they have made Impact Wrestling their new home, and would soon reunite with an old ally; upon winning the AEW World Championship with the aid of Impact's Don Callis (himself an old color commentator ally of the Bullet Club during the days of the Elite), Kenny Omega would repeatedly cross over to Impact to reform his old ties with the Good Brothers, even explicitly mentioning their prior history with the Bullet Club by name. In turn, Gallows and Anderson appeared to invade AEW several times on Omega's behalf. This would later bring out the Young Bucks, who in turn joined this Bullet Club reunion, making the Good Brothers associates and later full fledged members (who also represent their home promotion of Wrestling/ImpactWrestling) of the Elite. While the Young Bucks were somewhat reluctant about the affair and initially refused to go along with Omega and company's plan of beating up Jon Moxley, the AEW Tag Team Champions would turn heel and fully align themselves with the group after some persuasion by Omega's manager Don Callis.

(The) Bullet Club is a {{professional wrestling}} PowerStable that operates in Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, a gang of (mostly) {{Foreign Wrestling Heel}}s that have become one of the most dominant stables and popular in New Japan, with their history below. Members are denoted in '''bold'''. See [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]'s more comprehensive article on Bullet Club [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_Club here]].

However, one month later during the annual New Beginning tour, White would return to action with an assault on Tomohiro Ishii, feeling that his loss to Ishii during the G1 had derailed his path to NJPW godhood. Around this time, Tama Tonga was decrying The Good Brothers' reunion with The Elite in AEW and Impact Wrestling as a "betrayal" and a "bootleg Club". Jay would back up Tama's assertions, claiming that Bullet Club was about moving forward, not living in the past, and officially christening this period the REAL Bullet Club Era. He would later reinforce this notion by showing up in The Good Brothers' own home promotion of Impact Wrestling (where ex-Club leader Kenny Omega ruled the roost as the promotion's champion), and made known his displeasure with them in person. King Switch's time in the Impact Zone bore some fruit as well; on the August 5, 2021 edition of Impact!, '''Chris Bey''' was recruited into the club by Jay White, marking the first African-American talent in Bullet Club history. The expansion also continued in Japan at NJPW's Wrestle Grand Slam on September 4, when following the first heated clash between former Roppongi 3K and CHAOS teammates, EVIL, Dick Togo, and Yujiro would hit the scene. They not only welcomed the villainous victor '''SHO''' into Bullet Club, the four would usher in a new subgroup within BC, known as House of Torture. The Tongans have signaled their approval to both of these recruits, as well as both Jay's and EVIL's activity in general, despite hints that the two may not be consulting one another on their endeavors...

The group immediately became a powerhouse in New Japan as Devitt swept the Best of the Super Juniors tournament and retained the Junior Heavyweight Title. While Tama shared inter promotional tours with Mexican promotion Wrestling/{{CMLL}}, he teamed with '''Ray Bucanero''' and '''El Terrible''', forming Latinoamerica Bullet Club (or '''Bullet Club Latinoamerica'''), a short lived sister faction that quietly dissolved later that year. Both Bucanero and Terrible would win the CMLL Tag Team titles once each with Tonga. The stable fought Tanahashi and others such as Captain New Japan, and Wrestling/JushinThunderLiger, and tried and failed to dethrone Tanahashi's successor champion, member of the Wrestling/{{CHAOS}} faction Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada. Joining in October 2013 were '''Wrestling/TheYoungBucks''' (Matt and Nick Jackson), a team of dynamic wrestling brothers who went on to win the Super Juniors Tag Tournament as well as the IWGP Junior Tag Team Titles, bringing even more gold into the group. Then in November, '''[[Wrestling/DrewHankinson Doc Gallows]]''' joined the group and became Karl Anderson's tag partner. The two behemoths would win the yearly World Tag League, earning themselves a title shot at the upcoming January 4th ''Wrestle Kingdom VIII'' show.

Later in the show, after IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada won a tag match, '''Wrestling/AJStyles''' attacked him, ending with his FinishingMove, the Styles Clash. Styles then revealed his Bullet Club shirt, establishing himself as the newest member of the group, and co-leading the group with founding member Anderson. Styles challenged Okada for the championship, feeling Okada was still the same "young boy" he had known previously in Wrestling/{{TNA}}.[[note]]Okada was there for a two-year excursion during AJ's tenure with the company.[[/note]] Their match was set for May, Wrestling Dontaku 2014. Despite Bullet Club's interference in the match Okada appeared to have the advantage, only for '''Wrestling/YujiroTakahashi''', a member of Okada's own CHAOS stable, to attack Okada while the ref was distracted, then reveal his own Bullet Club shirt, formally defecting. With Okada virtually unconscious, Styles hit his finisher and brought the most prestigious belt in all of Japan into the club. Shortly afterwards Fale would capture the IWGP Intercontinental Title and Yujiro would win the NEVER Openweight Championship. Bullet Club had successfully won every title in New Japan, becoming one of the most successful stables in recent pro wrestling history.

In November 2014, '''Wrestling/KennyOmega''', a Canadian cruiserweight who had been in NJPW since 2010, joined, invited by the Young Bucks. Omega announced he was gunning for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, which he won at the next January 4 show. That same night, Doc's then-wife Amber Gallows (formerly known as Amber O'Neal) started accompanying him and Anderson as "The Bullet Babe". The day after, '''Cody Hall''', son of Wrestling/ScottHall, joined as the stable's "young boy", with Anderson stating that Hall would have to earn a full spot in the stable. The day before the 2015 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, Omega invited [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]] Junior Heavyweight '''Chase Owens''', needing a partner for the tournament and seeing that he had the potential to be a superstar.

Nakamura would vacate the championship and the company instead, with his departure confirmed at the end of the month. Instead, Omega defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi for the vacated championship at February's ''The New Beginning in Niigata''. At the same event, Anderson and Gallows, accompanied by Fale and Tama, lost their rematch opportunity to take back the IWGP Tag Team titles from Great Bash Heel and bowed to the New Japan fans, indicating their own departure from the company, which took place soon after.

Subsequently, Tama Tonga announced a new tag team partner/Club member, his brother,[[labelnote:*]]formerly known as Camacho in Wrestling/{{WWE}} or Micah in Wrestling/{{TNA}}[[/labelnote]] going by '''[[Wrestling/GuerrillasOfDestiny Tanga Loa]]''', adopting the team moniker G.o.D: '''Wrestling/GuerrillasOfDestiny'''. At Invasion Attack on April 10, 2016, the GOD defeated Great Bash Heel to reclaim the IWGP tag team titles for the Club. At the May 8 NJPW / Wrestling/RingOfHonor joint event Global Wars, the Young Bucks and Guerrillas of Destiny were scheduled in an eight-man tag match. Though the Bucks promised a new Bullet Club member and a "superkick party" later that night, the team won without a hint of either. However, they reappeared during the ROH World Championship main event between Wrestling/JayLethal and Wrestling/ColtCabana, revealing ROH stalwart and their one-time enemy '''Wrestling/AdamCole''' in a Bullet Club shirt. The Cole-Bucks-Guerrillas tandem proceeded to destroy everyone and everything in a calamitous run-in which culminated in ''51 superkicks''. The next ROH TV taping saw the group joined also by '''[[Wrestling/AdamPage Hangman (Adam) Page]]'''. Over the next three months Cole's quest to regain the ROH World Championship (which he had held once before) resulted in him cutting the hair of then-champion Lethal, enraging Lethal into a title match at Death Before Dishonor XIV, where Lethal lost the championship for the first time in years. Cole lost the ROH Championship shortly after to former partner turned heated rival Wrestling/KyleOReilly at ROH Final Battle.

Following Omega's loss, Cole began dissenting and trying to assert himself as a leader over the group. However, a storyline in which Wrestling/FrankieKazarian betrayed Cole's upcoming challenger Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels in favor of the Club turned out to be a ruse to distract Cole, allowing Daniels to beat him for the ROH championship on March 10. Cole blamed the Bucks for not having his back and tried to fire them from the Club, only for them to retort that their Elite cohort Omega was the only leader of Bullet Club. The tension, Cody's pursuit of Daniels' championship after Cole's failed rematch, and a storyline developed on the Bucks' [=YouTube=] series ''WebVideo/BeingTheElite'', culminated with Cole being literally superkicked out of the Bullet Club by the Bucks. The Bucks replaced him with British wrestler '''Wrestling/MartyScurll''' at Omega's call, following a loss to Tanahashi at the May 2017 ''War of the Worlds'' show.

After these additions, more conflict brewed within the Bullet Club, highlighted at Wrestle Kingdom 12 and New Beginning in Sapporo, both in January 2018. Omega would repeatedly preference his relationship with former tag partner Kota Ibushi over Club relations, while Cody would openly critique that preference. Kenny would attempt to recruit "Switchblade" Jay White, only for him to outright reject the invitation at New Year's Dash. On the second day of New Beginning in Sapporo, Omega would cause the Young Bucks and Marty to leave in frustration with him, leading to Cody and Page attacking him, and a Kota Ibushi save. The following episode of ''WebVideo/BeingTheElite'' would suggest tensions were cooling between them all, but behind all of this, at day 1 of New Beginning in Sapporo, Tama had cut another promo, flanked by Fale and Loa. Without addressing anyone in particular, he pointed out that any leadership needs mutual respect and support with the crew. The feud continued to grow, with Cody backed by Hangman Page, Omega backed by Ibushi, and singles matches between the two pairings would be set for the upcoming ''Supercard of Honor'', with leadership of the Club being implied. Through all of this, the Young Bucks and Marty would be vocally caught in the middle, with Tama silently, emotionlessly, ''waiting''…

Come said ''Supercard'', and the Bucks appeared to have their loyalties with Omega by attempting to superkick Cody. However, they hit Kenny by mistake and cost him the match; their attempts to make peace resulted in Kenny furiously disbanding the Elite despite the Bucks' cries. The battlelines seemed to be drawn as the Golden Lovers aligned themselves with the Tongan contingent to take on Team Cody despite most members of both sides still being cordial with each other. After a 10-man tag match at Wrestling Dontaku 2018, the Club made amends with each other…all save for Kenny and Cody, who still intended to kill each other. That night also saw the return of Bone Soldier, but with a new face beneath the mask: former Pro Wrestling NOAH standout '''Wrestling/TaijiIshimori''', who attacked Will Ospreay and announced his intention to gun for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

Despite being absent from the ''G1 Special''[='=]s events, Fale and the injured Hikuleo were soon revealed to be with their fellow Tongans in a Guerrillas of Destiny [=YouTube=] video that showed Fale calling the shot for the attack. Two whole different groups were now calling themselves the Bullet Club, differentiated as ''Bullet Club OG'' (The Tongans (Fale, Tama, Loa, HIKULEO, Haku), Ishimori, and Gambino) and ''Bullet Club Elite'' (Everyone else + Wrestling/KotaIbushi).

During the G1 Climax tournament, Tama and Fale represented BCOG in peculiar fashion, racking up disqualifications rather than points, while Omega nearly went undefeated before a string of losses as the end cost him the top spot in the B Block; Ibushi won that block instead, only to be beaten by Hiroshi Tanahashi in the final for the ''Wrestle Kingdom'' Briefcase. During this time Ishimori was confirmed by Tama to be with the OG faction, and after fulfilling some final obligations with ''[[Wrestling/{{TNA}} Impact Wrestling]]'', he returned alongside the Tongans toward the end of the G1 tour. Following this and The Elite-hosted ''All In'' event in Chicago on September 1, the Bullet Club OG and Elite members would face each other in tag team action at several special events, including the Guerrillas of Destiny taking both the NEVER Six-Man and IWGP tag team titles off the Young Bucks (the former also involving the two sides' respective juniors Ishimori and Scurll) while Omega continued to defend the IWGP Heavyweight Title. The Tongans also began declaring aloud that The Elite and their allies were not Bullet Club, and in the Tongans' eyes had stopped being Bullet Club long ago, framing the conflict as ''Bullet Club vs. The Elite'', as well as announcing that they were recruiting new members.

Since then, BCOG would be regularly referred to as simply the Bullet Club, with Tama Tonga and Jay White both reinforcing this in their post-match interviews, while Omega, the Bucks, Scurll, Page, and Cody's affiliations with the group were quietly phased out. Finally, the ''BTE'' cast members announced on October 30 while on Chris Jericho's cruise that they were no longer part of Bullet Club and were all now simply known as The Elite. Thus the Civil War ended almost without further incident, with the exception being a Three-Way Tag match at ''Wrestle Kingdom 13'', in which the Bucks were pinned by ''Wrestling/LosIngobernablesDeJapon''[='=]s EVIL and SANADA, costing G.o.D. both the Heavyweight Tag Team Championships[[labelnote:*]]for the second year in a row to the same team[[/labelnote]], and direct revenge. After Wrestle Kingdom, the Elite started their own promotion, Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling, and left both ROH and NJPW.

With the Club's identity secured, the Super Junior Tag League saw Ishimori and Eagles team together and achieve moderate success, while the heavyweight members of Bullet Club continued to rack up wins in tag team action during the tour. Even so, they continued to promise more members to come through at least two separate avenues; while Tama maintained that the BC recruiting push was actually not over, White claimed he had yet another member of CHAOS waiting on the inside to defect to Bullet Club at the most opportune time, hinting that this defection would crush Okada's spirit. At the end of 2018, Tama announced on social media that the club had chosen White as their new leader.

The Switchblade then began 2019 by defeating Kazuchika Okada clean in their grudge match at ''Wrestle Kingdom 13''. Prior to this, Ishimori had defeated Kushida to claim the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, in addition to G.o.D.'s aforementioned IWGP Tag Team Championship loss to EVIL and SANADA. Meanwhile, Chase and Yujiro's affiliation with The Elite broke down after nearly six months via miscommunication in a match at the pre-show, leading to the two rejoining Bullet Club to help G.o.D. and Ishimori retain the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship the next day at ''New Year Dash''. While they wound up losing the Six-Man titles later in the month during an…[[GoodIsDumb interesting]] babyface phase for Tama, G.o.D. would later recover to defeat Evil and Sanada at ''Honor Rising'' on February 23, 2019 to become 5x IWGP Tag Team Champions, then accept a challenge that same night from ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark Briscoe) to a Winner takes all match for both sets of tag titles at ''G1 Supercard'' in Madison Square Garden.

On March 8, 2019 NJPW announced the inclusion of a new member to the ranks of Bullet Club through their [=YouTube=] channel and repeated promotions throughout the New Japan Cup. Sources later identified him as '''El Phantasmo''', a Canadian wrestler active both in circuits in his homeland and in the British indie scene. He helped form a successful tag team with Ishimori, winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team championships. This also saw the departure of Eagles from the group; having grown tired of Bullet Club's ruthlessness, he found a new home in CHAOS, thanks to Will Ospreay. Gambino, who by this point was a color commentator for NJPW, could only look on in disgust.

As for ''G1 Supercard'', the tag team championship Winner takes all match wound up being turned into a four-way with the addition of EVIL and SANADA as well as ROH's Villain Enterprises (PCO and Brody King). G.o.D. won the match and thus captured the ROH World Tag Team Championship, though the moment was marred by [[Wrestling/EnzoAndCass controversy]] post-match. Meanwhile, Okada won the New Japan Cup to become the #1 contender for Jay White's IWGP Heavyweight Championship, finally defeating White as well as reclaiming the title in the ''Supercard'' main event.

Before the final day of the 29th G1 Climax, Tama Tonga tweeted that he had managed to recruit a "world-class" athlete into Bullet Club. To the surprise of many, it was former NOAH and NXT roster member '''[[Wrestling/KentaKobayashi KENTA]]''', who had just made his New Japan debut 2 months prior and had remained an unaffiliated roster member since then. In a 6 man tag match, KENTA betrayed his former allies in CHAOS and even best friend Wrestling/KatsuyoriShibata by allying with the Bullet Club in a massive beatdown, eventually taking the NEVER Openweight Title from CHAOS members (and Shibata's friends) Ishii and Goto, in turns.

When New Japan returned to having events in June 2020 upon adhering to social distancing guidelines, many of its key members -- White, KENTA, Fale, G.O.D. and Phantasmo chief among them -- were left overseas and out of the New Japan Cup. This didn't stop them from pulling out one more ace in the hole: '''Wrestling/{{EVIL}}''' shocked the world by not only beating Kazuchika Okada to win the whole tournament, but also turned his back on his comrades in Los Ingobernables de Japon by attacking Tetsuya Naito and defecting to Bullet Club; this decision would pay a mere 24 hours later, when EVIL defeated Naito to bring both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental championships simultaneously to his new crew, also bringing in '''Dick Togo''' as his elder teammate and manager. With Bullet Club now worldwide due to pandemic reasons, EVIL, Jay, and Tama declared that EVIL would "lead" and front the Bullet Club in Japan for now.

Shortly after EVIL's win, NJPW announced a weekly US based show called New Japan Strong, starting with a tournament to determine the challenger for the IWGP US title. With four entrants (KENTA, Loa, Chase, and Tama), Bullet Club had a man in every single first round match. Indeed, it was KENTA who went all the way, defeating David Finlay in the final for the briefcase. Hikuleo and White also returned to action stateside during the New Japan Strong series, before the latter rejoined the roster in Japan for the G1 Climax tournament. Prior to the G1, EVIL had lost the dual IWGP championships back to Naito; however, both EVIL and White represented BC in the tournament, joined by KENTA and Yujiro in their respective blocks. While both White and EVIL had acrimonious moments in their matches with their fellow BC stablemates, as well as began teasing facing each other for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships, EVIL fell out of the title picture by failing to defeat Naito and instead found himself feuding with his former ''pareja'' in SANADA heading into 2021. Jay, however, came up just shy of the Finals in the tournament itself, but still found his way into the chase to leave Wrestle Kingdom with the dual IWGP Championships and therefore "become God" when he defeated Ibushi to take the Wrestle Kingdom briefcase away from the G1 winner for the first time since its inception in 2012. The Tongans would also return to Japan, with G.O.D. in particular finally capturing the World Tag League trophy, while Ishimori claimed the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship again.

2021 was ushered in with yet another less-than-pleasant Wrestle Kingdom for Bullet Club. While January 4 saw G.O.D. capture the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles for the sixth time, defeating Dangerous Tekkers and finally capturing that elusive first Wrestle Kingdom victory, and KENTA retain his briefcase for a IWGP United States Championship match by defeating Satoshi Kojima, it also saw El Phantasmo fail to defeat Hiromu Takahashi in a #1 contender's match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. January 5 saw Ishimori lose said championship back to Hiromu, EVIL fall to SANADA, and Jay come up short in the main event to "become God" as he, like Naito the night before, was defeated for the belts by Ibushi. Following this, Jay had an emotional breakdown in which he declared his intention to leave the company once his contract was over.

However, one month later during the annual New Beginning tour, White would return to action with an assault on Tomohiro Ishii, feeling that his loss to Ishii during the G1 had derailed his path to NJPW godhood. Around this time, Tama Tonga was decrying The Good Brothers' reunion with The Elite in AEW and Impact Wrestling as a "betrayal" and a "bootleg Club". Jay would back up Tama's assertions, claiming that Bullet Club was about moving forward, not living in the past, and officially christening this period the REAL Bullet Club Era. He would later reinforce this notion by showing up in The Good Brothers' own home promotion of Impact Wrestling (where ex-Club leader Kenny Omega ruled the roost as the promotion's champion), and made known his displeasure with them in person. King Switch's time in the Impact Zone bore some fruit as well; on the August 5, 2021 edition of Impact!, '''Chris Bey''' was recruited into the club by Jay White, marking the first African-American talent in Bullet Club history. The expansion also continued in Japan at NJPW's Wrestle Grand Slam on September 4, when following the first heated clash between former Roppongi 3K and CHAOS teammates, EVIL, Dick Togo, and Yujiro would hit the scene. They not only welcomed the villainous victor '''SHO''' into Bullet Club, the four would usher in a new subgroup within BC, known as House of Torture.