My Friday column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review talks about the success of The Bullet Club. Here’s an excerpt:
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery or it’s legally trying to profit as much as possible off the established.
AJ Styles arrived on WWE programming in January followed by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in April after much anticipation from the wrestling world that they would leave their top spots in New Japan Pro Wrestling. It was in the Land of the Rising Sun where Gallows and Anderson were the original anchors. They were later joined by the star power of Styles for a group called The Bullet Club.
There’s constant comparisons of what happens in today’s wrestling to back to the late 1990s in the days of Stone Cold Steve Austin, D-Generation X and the New World Order (NWO). Usually the attempt to compare comes up short. However, The Bullet Club is the closest thing to the NWO the wrestling world had seen since.
The Bullet Club are heels that carry a swagger, appealing to many fans who want to be part of the movement. The group keeps a gang mentality with strength in numbers. Their logo has become famous and intimidating in the wrestling world. The NWO was “invading” the WCW promotion beginning in 1996. The Bullet Club has actually invaded and has members representing it in almost every major wrestling promotion in the world.
The biggest promotion is WWE, who have added themselves to that list. Well, kinda.
They want the credibility and attention of it, but just can’t legally use Bullet Club. Instead, Gallows and Anderson have been dubbed The Club in WWE.
Can’t blame them. I wouldn’t be surprised if WWE has tried to buy the name Bullet Club from New Japan Pro Wrestling and been told they are not interested in selling. The Bullet Club brand has grown bigger than Gallows, Anderson, Styles and even Finn Balor, who was in it under his previous name of Prince Devitt. The logo contains all the power and seems to be able to live on for as long as it wants. This was something the NWO couldn’t say.
CLICK HERE for future of Bullet Club and possibility of them actually coming to WWE.
