Finn Balor Credits NJPW Booker With Bullet Club Lineup

Over the past two decades, few wrestling factions have had as much impact on the industry itself than Bullet Club. What started as another heel faction in New Japan Pro Wrestling turned into something that would play a part in the rise of several top names, and was even a reason why All Elite Wrestling formed in 2019.

The man to thank for all of that is, of course, Finn Balor, who formed the group while wrestling as Prince Devitt in 2013, and during a recent appearance on the "Insight" podcast, the current WWE Superstar admitted that the original four man line-up of himself, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, and Karl Anderson, was conceived by the long-time booker for NJPW, Gedo.

"I've done everything in New Japan that I felt like I could possibly achieve, but then the idea came 'Hey would you like to turn heel?' I was like this is something new new, I can be a heel in New Japan, this is–I can learn more. So that's kind of what made me stay, and within like two weeks of having the conversation of putting me and Fale together, it was Gedo's idea, who was the booker at the time, he said 'Hey, why don't–like you're always with Karl Anderson, you're always with Tama, the four of you guys are always together, why don't we make you guys a group and come up with a name?'"

Balor was given the task of coming up with the Bullet Club name, which he has said in the past came from all four men having something to do with guns and explosives in their nicknames. He also wanted something the Japanese people could easily pronounce, and just like that, the Bullet Club was born.

Please credit "Insight" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.