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Since debuting in WWE NXT in 2014, Finn Balor has become one of the most popular wrestlers within WWE, reaching heights as the first-ever WWE Universal Champion, a multi-time midcard champion, and currently leading the Judgment Day faction. Before this, however, Balor was one of the fastest rising stars outside the Sports Entertainment Giant, as he was the face behind the creation of Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Alongside names such as Karl Anderson, The Young Bucks, Bad Luck Fale, and Tama Tonga, Balor, under his Prince Devitt character, would create one of the most popular wrestling factions of all time, a group that is still going strong today in Japan.
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Before He Was Finn Balor, He Was Prince Devitt
Some longtime fans may remember that upon his debut in NXT, Balor would originally arrive sporting his Prince Devitt name. This was the name that the Irish superstar rose to fame with during his time as one of the top Junior Heavyweights within New Japan Pro Wrestling. Debuting for the company in 2006, Devitt would perform in NJPW for nearly 10 years before leaving in 2014. During this run, he would mainly be known for two periods of his NJPW career, first as a part of the Apollo 55 tag team alongside Taguchi, and secondly as the founding father of Bullet Club.
Alongside Taguchi, Devitt would take the junior heavyweight division by storm, winning the Junior Heavyweight Championship on his own three times, and winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Taguchi four times. Devitt would also win his first Best of the Super Juniors while a part of the Apollo 55 tag team.
RELATED: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Prince Devitt, Finn Balor's NJPW Character
Prince Devitt Forms The Bullet Club In NJPW
In the Spring of 2013, Devitt would change the wrestling world forever as he would turn heel on Taguchi, aligning with Bad Luck Fale. Weeks later, Balor and Fale would team against Taguchi and Captain New Japan, who they would defeat, before attacking Hiroshi Tanahashi alongside Tama Tonga and Karl Anderson to officially form Bullet Club. From there, the group would only grow, as The Young Bucks, Yujiro Takahashi, and Luke Gallows would join as the next members of the new top heel faction within New Japan.
As a group, the unit would find success across the board, as Devitt would win the 2013 Best of the Super Juniors, Gallows and Anderson would become one of the most dominant tag-teams in NJPW history, and The Young Bucks would thrive in New Japan's Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Division.
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Prince Devitt's Exit From The Bullet Club Would Begin A Tradition
At the Invasion Attack PPV in April 2016, Prince Devitt's rivalry with his former tag-team partner, Ryusuke Taguchi, would come to a head, as the two would face off for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. During the match, the Young Bucks would repeatedly try to interfere on behalf of their leader, with Devitt telling them not to. The Bucks would eventually lay out Devitt, turning on the head of Bullet Club, which would allow Taguchi to defeat his former ally. This turn would kick off the tradition of leaders being ousted from the faction in public fashion.
Following Devitt's exit from the company, as he would leave for WWE immediately after his exit from Bullet Club, AJ Styles would take the reins of the NJPW-based faction, bringing the group to new heights as he would even become IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in the process. During this period, Styles and his group would bring in a young Kenny Omega into the fold as the new young star of the Bullet Club. In early 2016, Omega would lead a coup against Styles as The Phenomenal One would leave for WWE. Omega would then try to recruit Jay White into the group, though it would fail at first. Eventually, White would stage a hostile takeover of the faction, with The Elite being turned on and taken out of Bullet Club as Jay White would ascend to the throne. Beginning with Devitt's exit from NJPW and Bullet Club, the company and group has kept tradition alive with each of the subsequent leaders.
