Who should join the WWE Bullet Club?.
One of the most controversial things that happened in the WWE Draft is that the split up the Club, which had seemingly been poised to become the next big thing in WWE.
Now all three members of the Club are claiming the Club didnt split up.....it expanded, with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows on Raw and AJ styles on Smackdown.
But the thing is, 1 week after the draft.......theres been no hint of any expansion. In fact its starting to look like "expansion" was code for "justification for continuing the sell the brand new club shirt that debuted the week we broke them up because noone in WWE actually thought through the draft"
What I'm getting at, is that, in order for this "expansion" idea to look like anything other than a weak marketing ploy, The Club actually needs to expand...and soon.
So with that in mind, here are several idea for new members of the Club
1) Finn Balor- RAW
So this seems like a pretty freaking obvious fit, given that Balor, like Anderson and Gallows is now on RAW. In fact this is SUCH an obvious fit that this would seem to be the only possible explanation as to why the Club, poised to be a major money maker for WWE, was split up in the first place, other than WWE being historically incompetent.
The only real issue here is that Finn Balor seems to be set to be the face of RAW, and Anderson and Gallows are clear heels. And if Finn turned heel, well its not clear who would take his place as the main face of RAW....or is it?
Consider, all it would take to turn Finn Heel is a well timed Magic Killer by Anderson and Gallows on one of his opponents. Like say the man he faces for the WWE Universal title at Summerslam, Seth Rollins.
Now normally of course you dont turn heel by attacking another heel. But the truth is, WWE fans have been looking for an excuse to cheer Seth since his return....and were cheering him every time he ran down Roman Reigns.
Having Gallows and Anderson attack him would win him sympathy with the fans.....effectively turning him Face at the same time Balor goes heel. Its the almost never seen "Double Turn" in wrestling in which wrestlers basically exchange rolls over the course of the match. And this would further Seths gimmick of having been screwed out of the title he never lost again, while also establishing the "new" version of the club as a legitimate threat, having it captained by the new WWE Universal champion Finn Balor.
Its a winning situation for everyone involved.
2) Shelton Benjamin- Smackdown
Of the two parts of the Club, AJ's got the much harder task ahead of him. The Clubs gimmick has always been of outsiders coming in to invade......Americans invading New Japan Pro Wrestling in the case of the Bullet Club, and then New Japan alumni in the case of The Club in WWE.
And the big problem for AJ is that New Japan learned from the talent raid that cost them him, Gallows Anderson (as well as non club member shinsuke nakamura), and locked the rest of the Club into long term contracts, meaning none of them are able to come to WWE to help the Club gimmick out...meaning AJ will be the only "original member" (AKA a member of the bullet club) for his part of the Club.
Shelton Benjamin however is the next best thing. WWE announced on smackdown the return of Shelton Benjamin.....but what they didnt say is where he's been, New Japan Pro Wrestling. While there he occasionally fought with the Bullet Club, but also teamed with several of their members at times too.And given that the real life backstory to the Bullet Club was that they were a group of guys who first became friends cause they were english speakers......well it wouldnt be too hard a stretch to have AJ mention Benjamin as a guy he knew from Japan, but a guy who had wanted to do his own thing rather than join the club....a decision AJ respected.
But when he found out Shelton wanted to come back stateside, AJ helped bring him to smackdown....and this time Benjamin is joining his friend in the Club.
This would be another good fit for the Club as it keeps their gimmick intact of being "outsiders" from Japan, and gives the Smackdown branch of the Club two extremely talented wrestlers both of whom could make convincing World or IC champs....or team up as a convincing tag team, making just these two alone as versatile as the 3 on RAW.
3) Becky Lynch- Smackdown
Ok so to those who dont follow the behind the scenes goings on this one probably seems very much out of left field.....but believe it or not, it makes sense.
See Becky Lynch was trained by Finn Balor....and shes been a close friend of his ever since. You can also easily find pictures of her on-line wearing Bullet Club shirts (despite never working for New Japan) to support her friend. All WWE needs to do is acknowledge this friendship on air a few times to justify Lynch's eventual joining with the smackdown branch of the Club....she's friends with balor....and his friends, like AJ Styles.
And having Lynch join the club would give them something theyve never had before....a female member. And with that female member a whole new division to dominate (assuming Smackdown actually gets a womens title at some point). So its an easy way to diversify the Club, and helps elevate Lynch, whos been playing second fiddle to Charlotte and Sasha Banks for the last year. Also turning heel would help her out alot as her face character is pretty bland and dull. As a heel she could really play up the "lass kicker" nickname a bit more with a more aggressive and violent side.
The only issue here is that, like Finn Becky is a face. Unlike Finn their really isnt anyone else on the Smackdown roster who can take her place as the top female face on the brand. At least not at the moment. Rumor has it Melina is returning soon, and Nikki Bella will most likely return to Smackdown when shes recovers from injury (as real life boyfriend John Cena is there). Either one of them would be a good fit as top face on Smackdown...and once one of them returns, then their is no reason not to have Becky join the Club
4) Kota Ibushi -RAW
Ibushi has never been in WWE before....but recently asked out of his contract with New Japan. And then appeared on the WWE Crusierweight Classic tournament. He also admits to having been offered a contract. Assuming he signs, hes another great fit for the Club, as he checks the major box for the gimmick as a NJPW alumni.
So in New Japan Ibushi was one of the major rivals of Finn Balor (including beating Balor twice for championships)....so he and Balor have history. The Japanese are very big on respect too......it wouldnt be a stretch for Balor to claim Ibushi earned his respect and he's paying him back by bringing him to the WWE stage.
Also Ibushi is still in the Crusierweight Classic, he might even win the thing. Even if he doesnt though, as a RAW star he would definitely be a major player in the Crusierweight Division......a division where the Club would need a presence (balor by weight could compete in this division to be fair, but WWE seems to want to push him as a world title guy). Hes also faster and more agile than Gallows or Anderson at least, so he helps diversify the style of the club and can fill rolls in matches as a high flyer they just cant. Plus his history with Balor in Japan would likely make it easy for him to "mesh" with Balor and make the club look cohesive.
5) Brian Kendrick -RAW
Kendrick and Ibushi are pretty much an either/or kinda deal....the Club could use either one of them....but they dont need both. Like Benjamin, Kendrick has also recently returned to WWE programming after a stint in New Japan. And minus beatdown or two didnt have much interaction with Club....but as an English speaker could have hypothetically been a "friend" who decided not to join. And like Ibushi hes currently a competitor in the Crusierweight Classic meaning he would fill the Crusierweight "slot" for the Club. Alternatively WWE could play up a familiarity with Luke Gallows as both men were in the WWE together, and on the same brand 10 years ago.....the problem is, I dont think they want to admit Gallows was also Festus, the gimmick he worked at the time.
The big advantage Kendrick has over Ibushi is that he's already familar with working the WWE style, so would need much less adjustment period....and as the original Sin Cara proved, not all international stars can make that adjustment.
The downside though would be that, at 37 years old, Kendrick seems to be winding down his wrestling career, as hes actually been working as a trainer (most for Eva Marie) at the WWE performance center, so his longevity is questionable. But given how much WWE's landscape can change in 6 months....that may not matter as far as making an impact with the Club.
6) Baron Corbin-Smackdown
For every rule, theres an exception and in this case its Baron Corbin. Corbin has never ever set foot in NJPW and is not linked to any of the other Club members in any meaningful way, so he seems to break all the rules set forward so far.
But what Baron Corbin is is a mercenary who likes to hit people, even to the point of losing matches to take out his opponents (as seen in his fued with Ziggler).
And as talented as Styles or Benjamin are, the one thing neither of them are is powerhouses.....they cant enforce the will of the Club on their opponents. Corbin can.
The relationship/explanation here would be pretty clear, unlike the rest of the Club, Corbin would be the guy hired directly by AJ styles as protection. He'd basically be in it for the money.....and to beat up john cena (as AJ would way).
And to be honest, this would help Corbin out too....hes still really green and isnt really connecting with the fans in his current gimmick. Being in the club would let him learn from 2 of the best in the world, while also allowing him to mask his shortcomings behind their flashier skill sets, and even he weak mic skills wouldnt be an issue since AJ would do most of the talking.
It would also fix AJ's biggest problem.....hes openly called Gallows and Anderson his insurance policy to make sure he wins.....and while Benjamin is a great athlete, hes not a powerhouse like Gallows. So Corbin gives the Club the one thing they are missing on Smackdown.....pure power.
So there you have it, 6 possible candidates to join the Club.....assuming the WWE is serious about them expanding, and 6 candidates that could help to club have a presence in all most all divisions
RAW:
Finn Balor: Universal Championship division
Gallows: Tag Team division, US championship division
Anderson: Tag Team division, US championship division
Ibushi or Kendrick: Cruiserweight championship division
Smackdown:
AJ: World or Tag with either of the others, could also work IC division if needed
Benjamin: IC and Tag either of the others , could also work World division if needed
Corbin: IC or Tag with either of the others
Lynch: Smackdown Womens championship division
This would leave the RAW womens division as the only one without some kind of club presence, while having each show only have 4 members keep them from spiraling out of control like the NWO did......but the 8 total allow for survivor series and Royal Rumble angles and dominance.
Now all three members of the Club are claiming the Club didnt split up.....it expanded, with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows on Raw and AJ styles on Smackdown.
But the thing is, 1 week after the draft.......theres been no hint of any expansion. In fact its starting to look like "expansion" was code for "justification for continuing the sell the brand new club shirt that debuted the week we broke them up because noone in WWE actually thought through the draft"
What I'm getting at, is that, in order for this "expansion" idea to look like anything other than a weak marketing ploy, The Club actually needs to expand...and soon.
So with that in mind, here are several idea for new members of the Club
1) Finn Balor- RAW
So most people know The Club actually got their start in Japan. Some folks might even know they used to be called the Bullet Club. And an educated few might even know AJ Styles was NOT the original leader of the group, Finn Balor was.
So this seems like a pretty freaking obvious fit, given that Balor, like Anderson and Gallows is now on RAW. In fact this is SUCH an obvious fit that this would seem to be the only possible explanation as to why the Club, poised to be a major money maker for WWE, was split up in the first place, other than WWE being historically incompetent.
The only real issue here is that Finn Balor seems to be set to be the face of RAW, and Anderson and Gallows are clear heels. And if Finn turned heel, well its not clear who would take his place as the main face of RAW....or is it?
Consider, all it would take to turn Finn Heel is a well timed Magic Killer by Anderson and Gallows on one of his opponents. Like say the man he faces for the WWE Universal title at Summerslam, Seth Rollins.
Now normally of course you dont turn heel by attacking another heel. But the truth is, WWE fans have been looking for an excuse to cheer Seth since his return....and were cheering him every time he ran down Roman Reigns.
Having Gallows and Anderson attack him would win him sympathy with the fans.....effectively turning him Face at the same time Balor goes heel. Its the almost never seen "Double Turn" in wrestling in which wrestlers basically exchange rolls over the course of the match. And this would further Seths gimmick of having been screwed out of the title he never lost again, while also establishing the "new" version of the club as a legitimate threat, having it captained by the new WWE Universal champion Finn Balor.
Its a winning situation for everyone involved.
2) Shelton Benjamin- Smackdown
Of the two parts of the Club, AJ's got the much harder task ahead of him. The Clubs gimmick has always been of outsiders coming in to invade......Americans invading New Japan Pro Wrestling in the case of the Bullet Club, and then New Japan alumni in the case of The Club in WWE.
And the big problem for AJ is that New Japan learned from the talent raid that cost them him, Gallows Anderson (as well as non club member shinsuke nakamura), and locked the rest of the Club into long term contracts, meaning none of them are able to come to WWE to help the Club gimmick out...meaning AJ will be the only "original member" (AKA a member of the bullet club) for his part of the Club.
Shelton Benjamin however is the next best thing. WWE announced on smackdown the return of Shelton Benjamin.....but what they didnt say is where he's been, New Japan Pro Wrestling. While there he occasionally fought with the Bullet Club, but also teamed with several of their members at times too.And given that the real life backstory to the Bullet Club was that they were a group of guys who first became friends cause they were english speakers......well it wouldnt be too hard a stretch to have AJ mention Benjamin as a guy he knew from Japan, but a guy who had wanted to do his own thing rather than join the club....a decision AJ respected.
But when he found out Shelton wanted to come back stateside, AJ helped bring him to smackdown....and this time Benjamin is joining his friend in the Club.
This would be another good fit for the Club as it keeps their gimmick intact of being "outsiders" from Japan, and gives the Smackdown branch of the Club two extremely talented wrestlers both of whom could make convincing World or IC champs....or team up as a convincing tag team, making just these two alone as versatile as the 3 on RAW.
3) Becky Lynch- Smackdown
Ok so to those who dont follow the behind the scenes goings on this one probably seems very much out of left field.....but believe it or not, it makes sense.
See Becky Lynch was trained by Finn Balor....and shes been a close friend of his ever since. You can also easily find pictures of her on-line wearing Bullet Club shirts (despite never working for New Japan) to support her friend. All WWE needs to do is acknowledge this friendship on air a few times to justify Lynch's eventual joining with the smackdown branch of the Club....she's friends with balor....and his friends, like AJ Styles.
And having Lynch join the club would give them something theyve never had before....a female member. And with that female member a whole new division to dominate (assuming Smackdown actually gets a womens title at some point). So its an easy way to diversify the Club, and helps elevate Lynch, whos been playing second fiddle to Charlotte and Sasha Banks for the last year. Also turning heel would help her out alot as her face character is pretty bland and dull. As a heel she could really play up the "lass kicker" nickname a bit more with a more aggressive and violent side.
The only issue here is that, like Finn Becky is a face. Unlike Finn their really isnt anyone else on the Smackdown roster who can take her place as the top female face on the brand. At least not at the moment. Rumor has it Melina is returning soon, and Nikki Bella will most likely return to Smackdown when shes recovers from injury (as real life boyfriend John Cena is there). Either one of them would be a good fit as top face on Smackdown...and once one of them returns, then their is no reason not to have Becky join the Club
4) Kota Ibushi -RAW
Ibushi has never been in WWE before....but recently asked out of his contract with New Japan. And then appeared on the WWE Crusierweight Classic tournament. He also admits to having been offered a contract. Assuming he signs, hes another great fit for the Club, as he checks the major box for the gimmick as a NJPW alumni.
So in New Japan Ibushi was one of the major rivals of Finn Balor (including beating Balor twice for championships)....so he and Balor have history. The Japanese are very big on respect too......it wouldnt be a stretch for Balor to claim Ibushi earned his respect and he's paying him back by bringing him to the WWE stage.
Also Ibushi is still in the Crusierweight Classic, he might even win the thing. Even if he doesnt though, as a RAW star he would definitely be a major player in the Crusierweight Division......a division where the Club would need a presence (balor by weight could compete in this division to be fair, but WWE seems to want to push him as a world title guy). Hes also faster and more agile than Gallows or Anderson at least, so he helps diversify the style of the club and can fill rolls in matches as a high flyer they just cant. Plus his history with Balor in Japan would likely make it easy for him to "mesh" with Balor and make the club look cohesive.
5) Brian Kendrick -RAW
Kendrick and Ibushi are pretty much an either/or kinda deal....the Club could use either one of them....but they dont need both. Like Benjamin, Kendrick has also recently returned to WWE programming after a stint in New Japan. And minus beatdown or two didnt have much interaction with Club....but as an English speaker could have hypothetically been a "friend" who decided not to join. And like Ibushi hes currently a competitor in the Crusierweight Classic meaning he would fill the Crusierweight "slot" for the Club. Alternatively WWE could play up a familiarity with Luke Gallows as both men were in the WWE together, and on the same brand 10 years ago.....the problem is, I dont think they want to admit Gallows was also Festus, the gimmick he worked at the time.
The big advantage Kendrick has over Ibushi is that he's already familar with working the WWE style, so would need much less adjustment period....and as the original Sin Cara proved, not all international stars can make that adjustment.
The downside though would be that, at 37 years old, Kendrick seems to be winding down his wrestling career, as hes actually been working as a trainer (most for Eva Marie) at the WWE performance center, so his longevity is questionable. But given how much WWE's landscape can change in 6 months....that may not matter as far as making an impact with the Club.
6) Baron Corbin-Smackdown
For every rule, theres an exception and in this case its Baron Corbin. Corbin has never ever set foot in NJPW and is not linked to any of the other Club members in any meaningful way, so he seems to break all the rules set forward so far.
But what Baron Corbin is is a mercenary who likes to hit people, even to the point of losing matches to take out his opponents (as seen in his fued with Ziggler).
And as talented as Styles or Benjamin are, the one thing neither of them are is powerhouses.....they cant enforce the will of the Club on their opponents. Corbin can.
The relationship/explanation here would be pretty clear, unlike the rest of the Club, Corbin would be the guy hired directly by AJ styles as protection. He'd basically be in it for the money.....and to beat up john cena (as AJ would way).
And to be honest, this would help Corbin out too....hes still really green and isnt really connecting with the fans in his current gimmick. Being in the club would let him learn from 2 of the best in the world, while also allowing him to mask his shortcomings behind their flashier skill sets, and even he weak mic skills wouldnt be an issue since AJ would do most of the talking.
It would also fix AJ's biggest problem.....hes openly called Gallows and Anderson his insurance policy to make sure he wins.....and while Benjamin is a great athlete, hes not a powerhouse like Gallows. So Corbin gives the Club the one thing they are missing on Smackdown.....pure power.
So there you have it, 6 possible candidates to join the Club.....assuming the WWE is serious about them expanding, and 6 candidates that could help to club have a presence in all most all divisions
RAW:
Finn Balor: Universal Championship division
Gallows: Tag Team division, US championship division
Anderson: Tag Team division, US championship division
Ibushi or Kendrick: Cruiserweight championship division
Smackdown:
AJ: World or Tag with either of the others, could also work IC division if needed
Benjamin: IC and Tag either of the others , could also work World division if needed
Corbin: IC or Tag with either of the others
Lynch: Smackdown Womens championship division
This would leave the RAW womens division as the only one without some kind of club presence, while having each show only have 4 members keep them from spiraling out of control like the NWO did......but the 8 total allow for survivor series and Royal Rumble angles and dominance.
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