You Should Like NJPW Vol. 2 - Bullet Club

You've heard of Bullet Club. You've seen the t-shirts. You know what the Too Sweet is. You know who Finn Balor, AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Cody Rhodes, and probably The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and/or Adam Cole are. If your twitter timeline is any indication, Bullet Club is probably the coolest, hottest, most important act in New Japan Pro Wrestling! That's not exactly the case anymore. However, the Bullet Club seems like a good place to start, thanks to its name recognition among even the most casual wrestling fans on twitter. I think I'm going to try and separate the members of the Bullet Club in tiers, based on importance within the group and within the company, along with a brief breakdown of the character and history of each individual wrestler. Some will be longer than others, mostly because not everyone in Bullet Club is important. At all.

Bullet Club began in early 2013, when Finn Balor, then known as Prince Devitt formed a group of bad guys along with "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson, Bad Luck Fale, and Tama Tonga. Anderson and Balor left the group when they signed to WWE, as did later members AJ Styles and Luke Gallows. Nowadays, the Bullet Club is sporting eleven members, mostly separated into different sectors of Bullet Club. They are far from a cohesive unit, with only the logo and theme music holding them together as a faction. The really important sector is The Elite, consisting only of The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. So to start, we'll go with the bottom of the food chain.

Tier 1 - Random Tag Matches

Chase Owens 

I often forget that he's a member of Bullet Club. He might pop up once in a while in one of the seven hundred thousand randomly thrown together undercard tag matches that you'll watch across a year of New Japan programming. He will probably get pinned in that match. He's not a bad wrestler, he's just kind of irrelevant at this time in the grand scheme of the stable and the company.

Yujiro Takahashi

He's the second best wrestler in NJPW with the last name Takahashi. His character is that he's a pimp, which makes for a very cool entrance. And then the bell rings. I personally find his matches bland, which is why he always finds himself buried in multi-man tag matches to open the show. He's fine at his limited role, but it's hard to see him elevating past where he is now.

Hangman Page

He's slightly higher up in the rankings than Takahashi and Owens, but still hasn't found himself featured in many significant singles matches in NJPW to this point. He frequently works with Ring of Honor, where he gets more of a featured role. He'll find himself teaming with Cody in New Japan from time to time, indicating that he's slightly higher on the food chain and not quite bottom of the barrel. I could see him getting a bit more shine in the months to come.

Tier 2 - Pretty Important

Bad Luck Fale 

He's one of four original members and a human mountain. He's a Tongan ex-rugby player that mostly just wrestles in tag matches and throws people around. However, he recently made it to the finals of the annual New Japan Cup, albeit in a losing effort to Katsuyori Shibata. Fale is relevant when New Japan decides he's relevant. Otherwise, he's an intimidating guy that beats up on lowercard wrestlers. You've probably seen pictures of Finn Balor riding on his shoulders. Also, his nickname is THE UNDERBOSS. I felt like mentioning that because it rules.

Guerrillas of Destiny 

Former IWGP Tag Team Champions, Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa, formerly known as Camacho in WWE. Tama Tonga is the Tongan guy with the beard and cool facepaint that you've seen on your timeline. Since Roa found his way to New Japan, G.O.D have been consistently in the tag team title scene, but the heavyweight tag division in New Japan as a whole is weak at the moment, and therefore they find themselves in this part of the list. They're fine as a tag team. Their matches feature a lot of very audible swearing. Tama Tonga looks awesome. That's pretty much all I can say about Guerrillas of Destiny, to be honest. There's not a whole lot there.

Adam Cole

Former multi-time Ring of Honor World Champion, frequent PWG wrestler, and someone who has been rumored to be on his way to NXT on multiple occasions. There's a very good chance you've seen at least something that Adam Cole has done in a wrestling ring. Currently, he mostly works uppercard tag matches with The Young Bucks and/or Kenny Omega. He's a good enough wrestler to be where he is, and his matches become more entertaining through the personality that he shows with his actions and dialogue in the ring. It's really, really fun to chant ADAM COLE BAYBAY along with him.

Cody 

The artist formerly known as Cody Rhodes, also formerly known as Stardust. Since Cody left WWE he's been a polarizing figure, but it's clear that NJPW sees something in him, as he's found himself in important spots since he stepped foot in the company. He's a very strange and somewhat random fit in Bullet Club, but he's there nonetheless, and he works a style that is slowly adapting itself to what people look for in a typical NJPW match. Expect Cody to pick up some steam throughout the rest of the year. 

Tier 3 - Big Deals

The Young Bucks 

You know who they are. You're familiar with the Superkick Party, and you've heard about how great they are from almost everybody that has ever watched an indie show. Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson, who are, contrary to popular belief, not twins, make up the former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Their act is more popular elsewhere in the world than it is in New Japan, but you'll see them pop up in so many different parts of a typical New Japan show that it's hard not to elevate them above the second tier of Bullet Club. They're in Japan less than some of the other members of Bullet Club, but they always find themselves in a semi-important role, and are the centerpieces of the Junior Heavyweight Tag Division.

Tier 4 - The Leader

Kenny Omega 

I'm not even sure if I have to really explain this. "The Cleaner" Kenny Omega is not only the leader of Bullet Club, but one of the main faces of New Japan as it expands globally, especially in North America. Kenny is coming off a losing effort in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 11 against IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, in what was dubbed by many to be the greatest wrestling match of all time. I'm not here to debate that. Omega is a tremendous performer, easily one of the best in the world. His matches are great, he looks amazing, he has the best finisher, and he's incredibly weird. Which is awesome. If you do decide to dive into the world of New Japan, be prepared for a heavy dose of Kenny Omega, and for good reason.

You Should Like NJPW Vol. 1 - The Promotion

If you're on twitter as a wrestling fan in 2017, you have heard of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Somebody on your timeline is talking about NJPW, or Kenny Omega, or the Bullet Club. NJPW is reaching its height of popularity in North America, and will be holding shows in America in just a few months from now. It's important for the company's success in America to continue to build, and the easiest way for that to happen is for American wrestling fans to dive in to the uncontested number two wrestling promotion on the planet. I'd like to try and explain the New Japan product, a bit of its history, the major players on its roster, and the personalities surrounding the characters. The thing is, I'm not exactly a NJPW expert. I didn't watch any Japanese wrestling until 2014. I've been an inconsistent viewer. However, I think that makes me the perfect person to try and introduce NJPW to potential new fans of the product. So, hopefully this goes well. And if I blow it, and leave any holes in the story, please feel free to tweet me @JakesBadTweets and scream at me. Anyway, here we go.

 First things first: watching and enjoying New Japan doesn't make you a better fan. It also doesn't make you worse. It's another wrestling product in the world, and one that many people happen to enjoy for good reasons. And the more popular wrestling promotions there are, the better for wrestling as a whole.

I.

I guess we'll begin with some of their tropes, traditions and titles, starting with a term that most wrestling fans should be familiar with by now through Shinsuke Nakamura, that being strong style. Strong style is sort of a staple of Japanese wrestling. It refers to a more snug, hard-hitting style of pro wrestling that is often employed in Japan and is slowly appearing in more and more promotions across the world. It's employed especially in matches for the NEVER Openweight Championship, but that's something that we'll get into a bit later. It's a major component of the overall flavor of the wrestling in the promotion, and something that's worth familiarizing yourself with as you dive all the way into the product. 

II.

Next up, the distribution and production of the shows. A majority of their shows these days do in fact have English commentary, often provided by Ring of Honor's Kevin Kelly, accompanied usually by Don Callis. They are okay at it, but the fact that the English commentary exists at all is an improvement over years past. The English commentary will appear on almost all of their major shows, which can all be found on njpwworld.com which is essentially their WWE Network. Shows are typically around the same length as WWE PPVs, even slightly shorter on most occasions. However, something they have over WWE that I see as a benefit is their lack of a weekly television program. Although they do have a show on AXS TV, it's simply a replay of previous NJPW matches and doesn't advance current storylines. However, this lack of programming when compared to most American promotions keeps matchups fresh and helps build anticipation for their important events. Their calendar is structured with one major show every month or two, with some of their major events lasting more than one night, such as New Japan Cup or the G1 Climax, tournaments that last days or even weeks in the case of the G1. 

III.

New Japan maintains a working relationship with Ring of Honor, exchanging employees back and forth, including both in-ring talents and on-air personalities. ROH and NJPW hold dual-branded shows every year, with War of the Worlds and Global Wars in America and NJPW holding Honor Rising in Japan. Ring of Honor talent tends to be featured heavily in New Japan, although mostly as filler feuds rather than legitimate main event spots.

IV.

 New Japan is separated by weight divisions, between regular heavyweights and junior heavyweights. The promotion's titles are also separated as such, with seven major championships featured heavily on their shows.

NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships: NEVER is an acronym that's somewhat lost in translation, but the gist of it is that these belts can be won by any combination of three wrestlers, heavyweight or junior heavyweight. NJPW undercards have almost always been chalked full of multi-man tag matches, so these belts, introduced in late 2015, served simply as something to be defended to make those often randomly thrown together tag matches feel a little more important. However, they tend to just be thrown around on a whim, and are far from the most prestigious championships in the world. 

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: These belts are exactly what the name implies. The International Wrestling Grand Prix is the governing body over NJPW, thus these titles, that can be won and defended by teams of two junior heavyweights. For the most part, gaijin, or non-Japanese tag teams will be competing for these titles. Teams you may recognize, such as The Young Bucks or Trent Barretta and Rocky Romero, Roppongi Vice. 

IWGP Tag Team Championship: The same concept as the Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles, just without the junior part. Teams of two heavyweights are eligible to compete for these belts. This division often contains much more homegrown NJPW talent than does the Junior Tag Team division.

NEVER Openweight Championship: Matches for the NEVER Openweight Title tend to be when Strong Style shines through the brightest. The belt is often used as a way for an up-and-coming superstar to prove his worth in the ring with more chiseled veterans, or simply a way for a couple of more seasoned wrestlers to smack each other around. It's more of a stepping stone than a main attraction, but it's not a waste of time. Plenty of worthwhile wrestlers that you'll be introduced to later have had their hands on the belt in very recent memory.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: NJPW's version of the cruiserweight division. Fast paced matches, insane spots, ridiculous displays of athleticism are all mainstays in the Junior Heavyweight matches in NJPW, a division that is absolutely thriving currently. Some names that American fans may recognize in NJPW's Junior Heavyweight division include Ricochet and Will Ospreay.

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: The belt serves sort of the same purpose as WWE's version of the Intercontinental Title, even on a higher level, actually. Former world champions often hold the IC Title in NJPW, or guys that are on the fast track to the title. It's less like a midcard title and more like a second main event belt, with previous champions including Kenny Omega and Shinsuke Nakamura.

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: The top title. Their world championship. Treated as a big deal, handled as a big deal, and respected as such. It's not a title that changes hands often, so when it does, it means a lot. The most notable former champion in recent memory is, of course, AJ Styles. 

V.

Now that a little bit of the background to the current landscape has been laid out, the following posts will be running through individual roster members, their history, and where they stand in the promotion today. Hopefully something about this post piqued your interest enough to continue reading the ones that are coming in the future, and moreso, hopefully you begin to watch future New Japan events on njpwworld.com.