Bullet Club Bridged the Gap for NJPW in the United States

With the faction coming to an end, I look back on how Bullet Club brought NJPW to the United States

Bullet Club was officially disbanded after New Japan Pro Wrestling’s (NJPW) Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 5th, 2026. The stable was formed in May of 2013 by Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) and was key to bringing New Japan Pro Wrestling’s product (especially for this writer and wrestling fan) to the United States wrestling scene.

Many wrestling stars from both WWE and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) were part of the legendary faction at one point. The group often drew comparisons to the New World Order (NWO) stable from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) during the 90s Attitude Era of Pro Wrestling. The NWO transcended pro wrestling and bled its way into mainstream popular culture. Bullet Club also transcended its way into North American wrestling culture. Let’s take a look at how they brought the NJPW product to an American audience.

Bullet Club Brought New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) to the United States

WWE Started Signing It’s Stars

Triple H took the reins of NXT, in 2014 and the black and gold era began to set itself apart from the main roste. He began to scout independent promotions for talent to bring to NXT. Talent such as PAC (Adrian Nevelle), Kevin Steen (Kevin Owens), Sami Zayn (El Generico), and others began to head to Full Sail in Orlando for NXT tapings.

One of the first major signings to the brand was none other than original Bullet Club leader Prince Devitt (Finn Balor). Others, such as the second leader, A.J Styles, and Adam Cole (bay bay), would also go on to have prominent roles in NXT and/or WWE.

Finn, A.J, and Cole were all major parts of the Bullet Club stable, and their jumps to WWE brought attention to Bullet Club and NJPW. With the NJPW World streaming service, fans were able to go back and watch events that featured Bullet Club and the WWE signees from their time in NJPW. This made the stable and NJPW more prevalent in the United States pro wrestling scene.

The Elite Era and All In

Arguably, the biggest needle mover for Bullet Club and New Japan Pro Wrestling was the 2018 independent wrestling event, All In. The event was produced fully by Bullet Club members The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes.

The event sold over 10,000 tickets and sold out at the Sears Center (now known as the NOW Arena) in Hoffman Estates, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Many members of the Bullet Club competed on the card, such as Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, Hangman Adam Page, Marty Scurll, Stephen Amell, and the Young Bucks.

The show was heavily promoted on The Young Bucks’ YouTube show “Being The Elite” as well as on Ring of Honor television, where the Bucks and Cody were signed at the time. The stage setup was Bullet Club themed, and the event was streamed live on pay-per-view. The hype surrounding the show, being independently financed and produced by Bullet Club members, drew many eyes to the card and the Bullet Club faction. Many of the Ring of Honor Bullet Club members also often appeared on New Japan Pro Wrestling programming through the talent exchange that the two promotions had prior to Ring of Honor going under in 2021.

All In became a springboard for AEW to form in 2019, and the heavy presence of Bullet Club members in the organization and execution of the event bled into mainstream wrestling and even into non-wrestling news outlets due to the magnitude of a non-WWE event selling 10,000 tickets to a show. All of this gave more eyes and presence to the NJPW stable.

Later Signings in TNA and AEW

With The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, and Hangman Page heading to AEW in 2019, Bullet Club lost some key members from the ranks. That did not stop the stable from rolling on, however.

Jay White assumed the leadership role of the stable after Omega’s departure from NJPW and would hold the position until he headed to AEW himself in 2023. Although he was no longer the leader of the Bullet Club, he found himself in an expansion of the stable alongside Juice Robinson, Austin Gunn, and Colton Gunn as Bullet Club Gold/Bang Bang Gang. This offshoot of the Bullet Club stable gave fans who came to the AEW product in the years after its launch some exposure into the legendary NJPW stable.

The promotion also expanded in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling with the tag team of Ace Austin and Chris Bey joining the ranks of the stable as IMPACT Wrestling started a working relationship with IMPACT Wrestling in 2022.

This again brought the Bullet Club stable to an American audience with two members from a non-NJPW promotion.

Pro Wrestling Tees

Pro Wrestling Tees has printed NJPW wrestler t-shirts, including shirts for Bullet Club, since 2014. The shirts were constantly top sellers as the stable began to grow in popularity in the United States. This gave fans access to the merch from a US based shop where they didn’t have to pay international shipping to rock their favorite Bullet Club members’ merch.

In 2017, Pro Wrestling Tees also signed a deal with Hot Topic to distribute merchandise in their stores, including Bullet Club merch. This again made the Bullet Club merchandise easily accessible to a United States audience and put the logo in front of more wrestling and non-wrestling fans in the US.

More From Heart As Art

Who were your favorite members of Bullet Club? What were some of your favorite moments from the stable? Sound off in the comments below

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