David Finlay Reveals He Immediately Wanted To End Bullet Club After Becoming Leader

Bullet Club may have come to an end years earlier had New Japan Pro-Wrestling approved a David Finlay suggestion, with the final leader of Bullet Club revealing he wanted to immediately end the stable after becoming leader in January 2023.

"I became the Bullet Club leader and then I immediately wanted to kill it, but they were like, 'No, it makes money.' So the compromise was we formed Bullet Club War Dogs, which is where The Dogs comes from," Finlay revealed on Talk is Jericho.

Finlay replaced Jay White as Bullet Club leader at Battle in the Valley 2023, with Bullet Club War Dogs being formed at that year's Dominion when Dan Moloney, Alex Coughlin, and Gabe Kidd were added to the stable. This came after Clark Connors had already replaced El Phantasmo in Bullet Club at Capital Collision.

Finlay reflected on becoming Bullet Club leader, noting that he knew it was going to be an uphill battle due the calibre of the faction leaders before him and the fact he had never wrestled as a heel.

"Jay White, who has been my rival since day one, he was the Bullet Club leader and then COVID happened, whatever, his contract ran out and he left. This was when the company was not doing well because of COVID. COVID really was a big blow. Bullet Club merch was still doing good so it was like kind of their cash cow, so we need somebody to run it. So Gedo was like, 'I know, the guy that's been an underdog babyface for the last eight years. Let's use him.' I understood the assignment. I also knew that it was like, 'People are not going to like this. Which is good because they're not supposed to like it.' But I was also like, 'Alright, this is a huge opportunity that I'm not turning down, but this is going to be an uphill battle as well,'" Finlay stated.

David Finlay would remain the leader of Bullet Club until the stable was merged with Unaffiliated - the group of former Los Ingobernables de Japón members - into Unbound Co. by Yota Tsuji at New Year Dash 2026.

Finlay finished up with NJPW in February and he joined All Elite Wrestling soon after, forming The Dogs with his fellow former Bullet Club stablemates Clark Connors and Gabe Kidd.

Bullet Club was one of the biggest factions in the history of pro wrestling after it was formed by Prince Devitt, Karl Anderson, Bad Luck Fale, and Tama Tonga in 2013. Outside of Finlay and Devitt, past leaders included AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, and Jay White.

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