In the decade since its inception Bullet Club has seen incessant change; change in leadership, change in members, change in aspirations, change in fan perception. It’s happening again now, only this time it’s a generational shift too.
Harkening back to their roots has the future looking limitless for Bullet Club. Right now, Bullet Club feels stable and the best it has in a long time.
“David Finlay’s Bullet Club is a return to the origins of what made Bullet Club great in the first place,” Clark Connors tells Wrestle Inn. “We aren’t going to tone it down and be nice so people won’t feel uncomfortable. They get to see the real us. Bad mother fuckers. Savages. Killers.”
It’s a mindset echoed by Gabe Kidd: “How did the original Bullet Club form? Four foreigners who were pissed off by the way they were being treated by this fucking company. Look at what happened there.”
At Dominion, new leader David Finlay stood tall with his freshly formed group of War Dogs: Alex Coughlin, Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney. A collection overflowing with potential, a united and fresh force unlike Bullet Club has seen in years. A sorely needed injection of vigour.
There is no Elite, no desire to separate the best from the rest. There is no Jay White, no one man larger than the group itself. Those fans that were once pandered to are now viewed as collateral damage.
A return to the lawless roots of Bullet Club’s gang mentality is a welcome change, a necessity after suffering a prolonged identity crisis. And it’s all at the behest of David Finlay, although his newfound leadership has been met with understandable hesitation.
“The change in credible leadership has always kept the faction current, fresh and relevant,” former Bullet Club member Jeff Jarrett told us.
Finlay may not wield the immediate star power of previous leaders, yet he has sharply shown his credibility in being the new head, reinventing himself and cementing a harsh and savage in-ring style. The ending to his Wrestling Dontaku match with Tama Tonga was distressing, forgoing assured victory to enact further punishment, ultimately ending the torment and winning the NEVER Openweight Championship. It was a statement, a showcase that the man we see now is not the man we knew before.
In a few short months, Finlay has changed perceptions of himself and Bullet Club. There are doubters still to convince, but even the most cynical can see the progression taking place and the intoxicating potential.
Rather than forcing big names to fit into Bullet Club, instead of vying for the shock value of another EVIL, the group is instead being moulded whilst simultaneously moulding its new recruits.
Shrewdly, Finlay recruited those who he understood and in turn understood him.
“I’ve been signed, under contract for over five years and I have jack shit to show for it. I went through the dojo system just like every other young lion. Did all the chores, the squats, the laundry, fucking whatever,” an angered Alex Coughlin told us. “David [Finlay] came up to me and really smartened me up to how much of a scam all that shit is.”
It’s a theme that runs true throughout. It’s not a coincidence that three of the four new members are graduates from the LA Dojo: they did things the intended way, they followed the rules and the paved path but gained none of the rewards they were promised, much like David Finlay himself. A graduate of the Noge Dojo, Finlay found himself always playing the supporting character.
“It’s the years and years and years of being held back by the company, that’s exactly where my issue lies,” Gabe Kidd says. “The shit that Finlay has put up with for eight years, I’ve put up with for a year and a half. I’m not gonna’ let this company hold me back.”
There’s a changing of the guard taking place in New Japan. The promotion is in star-making mode, looking forward as their future prospects become stars of the present, and Bullet Club is an important piece of that puzzle.
In this new core Bullet Club, these five men are integral to the charge for a new generation. Each man has merit, not there to simply make up numbers; as Clark Connors details, they each bring something distinct to Bullet Club.
“David Finlay is a natural born leader, he has a vision of exactly what it takes to make a mark in this business. Dan Moloney is, in the simplest terms, just a bad person. He brings out the dangerous side in all of us. Gabe Kidd is the wild card with a mouth on him, he does what he wants, when he wants, and doesn’t give a fuck. Alex Coughlin is the cheat code, pound for pound strongest wrestler in the business, he will step up and destroy any and everything in his way. I’m the tactical one, I know exactly what we need as a group to get what we want. Whether it be calculated attacks or knowing who to piss off to get what we want, I am the man for the job.”
There is a pronounced effort to bring the conversation back to the core Bullet Club, back to a focused group, and that focus is the War Dogs.
Bullet Club conversations inevitably circle back to the same place; strong criticism of the groups within the groups and the endless growing list of members across the globe. It is a more than warranted argument, but David Finlay and his War Dogs are showing us that this is Bullet Club. Their interactions with House of Torture are limited, their work with members in different promotions non-existent.
“I don’t give a shit about all the extended members, all the factions and cliques, it’s nonsense,” Alex Coughlin tells Wrestle Inn. “I’m here with my friends to destroy any asshole who stands between us and what we deserve. And we deserve EVERYTHING. Who’s gonna fucking stop us?”
At NJPW’s Independence Day double header, War Dogs truly arrived and sunk their teeth in. The team of Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney captured the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships whilst Alex Coughlin and Gabe Kidd were crowned STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions.
There is a palpable change in the air when War Dogs make their entrance. Kidd sets a feral tone, rampaging through the crowd and hurling chairs across the venue, and it’s a tone that remains throughout their matches.
For all the volatile entrances, for all the disrespect and all the big talk, these are two extremely talented tag teams that back it all up in the ring.
The Moloney and Connors duo have surprised in the best possible way, the men winning tag gold despite it being their first time teaming together. Not many could keep the spirited fire alive that Catch 2/2 engulfed the junior heavyweight tag division in, but these two have the potential to keep that flame burning endlessly.
Coughlin and Kidd bully their opponents, their matches are more of a fight than a wrestling match, the hulking brutes merciless in their onslaught of wicked chops and remarkable strength.
“Bring gold or bring bodies” is the motive set by Finlay, and barely a month in to the War Dogs creation that mission is accomplished. But, this is only the start.
“I wouldn’t want to be associated with any other group of guys.” Gabe Kidd says. “You’re gonna’ see over the next few months what we’re about. I’m done talking, you’re about to see.”
Wrestle Inn 