10 Reasons To Get Into NJPW In 2019
8. Switchblade's Bullet Club
Jay White's 2018 megapush went from "what?" to "wow!" when - of all things - he knocked commentator Jim Ross clean out of his chair during a particularly grotty guardrail skirmish with Juice Robinson during July's G1 Special in San Francisco.
Vince McMahon's abuse of the legendary Oklahoman used to seemingly be for his own entertainment, but when 'Switchblade' put 'JR' on his a*se (and avoided a legitimately livid Josh Barnett like a cartoon villain in the aftermath), it finally awakened the cynical sh*thouse NJPW booker Gedo clearly saw in him when he first returned from excursion in November 2017.
White defeated Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and a host of others in 2018, and ended the year as new Bullet Club head honcho having bantered off 'The Best Bout Machine' when offered a place in the 'Elite'-heavy version crew in January. Taking advantage of a fatal severance between Kenny's side and the 'BC O.Gs' core tentatively led by the dated dope Tama Tonga, White assumed leadership of a refined Club after also gaining the support of Okada's former right-hand man Gedo.
It was a nod to those that knew of his booking power and ardent support for the young New Zealand star, but that same relationship existed when he was first paired with the relatively untested 'Rainmaker' in 2012. The omens are good for White, even if his intentions for the NJPW old guard are very, very bad.