Swords and Guns, Part One: The Birth of the Bullet Club

Wrestling Dontaku is an annual event held in Japan by wrestling promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling and has become synonymous with birth place to one of the greatest factions in wrestling today, the Bullet Club.

On May 3, 2013, during Wrestling Dontaku, Prince Devitt (at the time was the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion) formed a tag team with his new bouncer, Bad Luck Fale and defeated his former partner Taguchi with Captain New Japan.  You could argue that the Bullet Club was formed when Devitt recruited Fale but their impact on NJPW wasn’t cemented until later in the event.  The now former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi had just defeated Karl Anderson and was met after the match by a ruthless Prince Devitt and company (his new bouncer, Bad Luck Fale).  Karl Anderson would help Devitt and Fale beat down Tanahashi with Tama Tonga soon join in. 

It was by this singular action that the Bullet Club was born.  It was only a matter of time before Devitt would challenge Tanahashi for the title.  Prince Devitt would win his second Best of the Super Juniors tournament.  He then challenges Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Title and is unsuccessful.  Prince Devitt and Tanahashi continued their feud until it’s brutal end during a Lumberjack Deathmatch on September 29 at Destruction, where Prince Devitt was defeated by Tanahashi.

On October 25, we would see the debut of two of the most notable members of the Bullet Club in the Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson whom would play a pivotal role in the reshaping of the Bullet Club.

On November 9, 2013, at Power Struggle, The Young Bucks won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and on January 4, 2014 at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in the Tokyo Dome, Karl Anderson and the newest member of the Bullet Club, Doc Gallows won the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. 

It should be noted that captured in the picture is the Young Bucks holding the Ring of Honor, PWG and IWGP Junior Tag Team Championships, all of which they held at the same time.

Later in the same event, the defending IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, Kota Ibushi would defeat Prince Devitt to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.  Devitt’s loss marked the end of his 14-month long reign as champion.

On April 6, 2014 at Invasion Attack, a returning Ryusuke Taguchi went one on one against his long standing rival, Prince Devitt.  The Young Buck tried to interfere with the match to help persuade the victory for Devitt but he wasn’t allowing it.  This action caused the Young Bucks to turn on their leader and Devitt to subsequently disassociate himself from the Bullet Club.  The next day,  he announced his resignation from NJPW.  Although, this was seen as the self-destruction of the Bullet Club, it is known that in order to build one up, sometimes you must break them down so that they may rebuild stronger and more powerful.

Later that night, a debuting AJ Styles make his allegiance known and attacks the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Kazuchika Okada beginning a storied rivalry and the rebirth of the Bullet Club.

Top (left to right): Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows

Bottom (left to right): Nick Jackson, Prince Devitt aka Finn Balor, Matt Jackson

Written By: Brian Adam Compton for Wrestling Goons Radio © 2016

WGR's Around The Squared Circle Podcast - February 28th

In this episode of Wrestling Goons Radio, the Goons are catching you up to speed on everything since the Rumble. Shane McMahon has returned to WWE, AJ Styles & Chris Jericho are apparently a tag team now, The Wyatts continue to be buried before our eyes, and WWE seems to be getting edgier in main event storylines. We discuss all that and rant and rave along the way. The Goons are back in this packed episode! Click it!


WGR's Around The Squared Circle Podcast - February 28

WGR's WWE Royal Rumble Post Week Podcast

n this edition of Wrestling Goons Radio's "RAW Reaction", you get a bonus! We cover everything from the Royal Rumble and all of the fallout including RAW and Smackdown. HHH is the new champ. The Rock is back to start some controversy. And whats next for Roman Reigns? Find out all this and more in this jam packed hour long episode with Brian and Anthony

WGR's WWE Royal Rumble Post Week Podcast

WGR's WWE RAW Reaction - One Vs All

In this episode of WGR's RAW Reaction, Sting is the first member of the 2016 Hall Of Fame Class, Kalisto is the new US Champion, and Roman Reigns get a test before the Royal Rumble in the Main Event with a One vs All match. Brian and Anthony react to everything that went down this week. We give the good and the bad. Were you entertained? Click it!

WGR's WWE RAW Reaction Podcast - One Vs All

My First NXT WTF Moment

My First NXT WTF Moment

By: John Thomas-Austin

   Over the last few years we have watched Triple H evolve (pardon the pun) NXT into the must-watch show for the majority of us wrestling fans. With epic signings as of late, pay-per-views that brought every house down in 2015, and quality storylines that breathe life into the characters, which is something that's been missing in a lot of the matches on Raw or Smackdown, it's hard to complain about what's been given to us from Triple H's version of the Little Engine That Could, and does, on almost every given night. That's the reason I feel a little guilty about the gripe I'm about to make right now..... It wasn't until NXT Takeover: London, that I saw something that made me say out loud, "Wow, they really dropped the ball here". I'm about to take you on a recap of how creative blew the potential of the Bayley/Nia Jax feud and in turn, damaged the build of a monster heel in the process.

   First off, let me plainly say that I am a fan of Bayley and the work she's done in NXT (and her butt, shout outs to Bags), and my comments are in no way meant to discredit her. No worries, I want hugs too. Anyway.... When promos began popping up in the fall of 2015 introducing us to the woman known off-screen as Savelina Fanene, we were greeted with comments like, "Greatness is my destiny" and "Most girls only take what they're given.... I'm not most girls"... So here they are building the seeds for someone about to shake up the division, or so it seemed. After a few weeks of similar teasers, we are finally introduced to Nia Jax in her debut match.                              

Nia Jax debuts at NXT Full Sail

Nothing fancy or technical, but raw, brutal, and powerfully dominant. You can tell she's green, but potentially, the closest thing WWE would ever see to an Awesome Kong (Kharma) ever again. As the weeks went by, we watched a string of squash matches and the character live up to the promos with in-your-face beatdowns of NXT women's wrestlers. It seemed like everything was lined up for an eventual showdown with Bayley, the NXT Women's Champion, whom honestly needed (still does) a big feud after finally conquering Sasha Banks for good, and making quick work of Alexa Bliss and surprisingly, Eva Marie, whom I'm sure most of us are glad didn't get the win in their title match. So they start building the seeds of something potentially epic, with Nia interrupting a Bayley interview and later attacking her after her match, then the week after  throwing her through a door backstage. I'm thinking we're about to see something from the NXT Women's division like a Sting/Vader or Bret/Yoko feud. The stage is set for NXT Takeover: London for a title match and a rivalry that could be potentially more epic than any before it, and it was KILLED IN ONE MATCH. As far as the match itself, it was good, Jax played the crusher heel to perfection as Bayley did the underdog that never gives up (note my choice of words). It was the finish that did damage to both characters, and I'll explain why.

   My complaint is not based on the fact that Bayley won the match. Even that could have been done in a way where neither character lost heat and the momentum from the match continued for weeks on. Have Jax hit a buckle or corner post, Bayley get a quick roll up, Jax attacks her after the match, feud goes on, Bayley gets the true decisive win down the line in a more epic match. Instead, the ending we are treated to completely nulls Jax's entire offense, and turns Bayley into the lady version of Super Cena!!!

Bayley taps out Nia Jax at Takeover

OK, I get kicking out of one finisher, but three? Undertaker doesn't kick out of THREE finishers storywise.... Bayley vs. Brock at Mania, Bayley wins..... Lol. Then to make matters worse, the wrestler that no one could previously KNOCK DOWN gets.... Wait for it...... TAPPED OUT IN HER FIRST PAY-PER-VIEW MATCH. I don't know if other wrestling fans feel this way, but IMO when a wrestler taps out to another, it's worse than being pinned, from a storyline standpoint, it's saying the wrestler that tapped you out OWNS you. The final nail in the coffin was Jax walking up the ramp with her head down like a spanked puppy, with absolutely no flak toward the champion. Aside from the little Bayley superfan who's always in the front row, I don't see how anyone could logically conclude this was the best outcome. What's even more painful is the finish killed the potential heat of the future Asuka/Jax match they teased during Takeover: London. Now it's equivalent to if Apollo Creed had beaten the crap out of Ivan Drago at the beginning of Rocky IV. Who would have given a damn about the fight in Russia then?


This was a huge dropping of the ball from NXT creative, and regardless of the fact that I know that the future potentially holds rivalries that will leave this a far afterthought, I still can't help but be disappointed. I hope that this isn't a sign of things to come in the Women's division when it had been the heart and soul of NXT PPV'S for the majority of 2015. I also can't help but be skeptical about the long-term damage this could potentially do to Nia Jax's character, see Big Show, A.K.A. "Mr. Even when he dominated the fans still looked at him as a joke" bad. Most fans will say that I'm seriously jumping to conclusions here, but hey.... I'm not like most fans..

John Thomas-Austin is a Contributing Editor for Wrestling Goons Radio