Ranking NJPW’s Factions Post-WK12: Worst To Best

Credit: NJPW Twitter

2. Bullet Club

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Bullet Club is back with a vengeance. After a year without much to shout about besides their leader’s exploits, the gaijin group has found their groove again.

Make no mistake: this is still a top-heavy, ELITE-led faction. But it has still been good to see other members finding new roles. After making it to the finals of the World Tag League, Tama and Tanga have found a great spot with Bad Luck Fale as the trios champions. Admittedly they look disgruntled with what they might deem as a demotion, but the three Pacific-Islanders have a chance to make those belts their own, even amidst all the hot-potato-ing.

Cody also had one of the matches of the night at the Tokyo Dome; something that he’s failed to do on a New Japan show to date. This was followed by further tension between him and Kenny, involving Kota Ibushi. Hopefully we’ll see some payoff from this down the line, but it at least gives Bullet Club some intriguing subtext in the meantime.

And then there’s the faction chief, Kenny Omega. Having potentially the best wrestler on the planet lead your tribe will always help your cause, but Kenny has gotten back to his early 2017 form. After defences against low-level contenders like Baretta and Yoshi-Hashi, the US Championship is back to Heavyweight 1B status, even drawing a challenge from Y2J. Their chaotic brawl was nowhere near match of the night, but the marquee win helped further entrench Kenny as the number two player in the company.

Both Kenny and The Bucks will need to survive immediate title challenges.  For now though the Bullet Club, while still fractured, is a powerful force in the world of pro wrestling.