Would it work if "The Club" became the nWo?

[resignedknight]

The similarities are obvious. New Japan established the Bullet Club as a group of fan favorite cool heels very much in the style of the nWo, but obviously couldn't use the name since Vince owns it. Vince can't use the Bullet Club for the same reason. So why not just cut out the middle man and rebrand them the nWo?

The Club is simply not adequate as the name of a major group. It's too generic and it's not going to move merch in the way I'm sure they want. It also sends to me to fairly obviously be a placeholder for whatever name they end up with. The Balor Club seems even more problematic since everybody would have to subordinate themselves to Finn and it would pigeonhole them too much for my taste. Something better has to come along.

The Club and the original nWo also bear some thematic similarities. Both debuted as invaders from a rival organization and got into feuds with the top guys in the company (Roman in this case; Sting, Flair, and other WCW guys in the original).

To take it a step farther, the missing similarity is a former top guy turning heel and being the leader, which brings me to a major problem this would solve:

Something has to change with one John Cena. Simply put, his spot is gone, so they are finally going to have to do something new with him. So you write the angle with Roman getting attacked by The Club, Cena comes out and swerves by attacking Roman and lays out a promo, something like "This isn't just a new era. It's a new world order."

I can already hear the gnashing of teeth at the idea of having Cena take over this group of guys we like, and frankly I have mixed feelings about it myself. But it does seem like it would make sense as a logical trajectory of the angle and would solve the problem of Cena. It would also be of benefit to the company because both Cena and Roman could still move mountains of merch, which just isn't going to happen if it's just old top guy and new top guy. It would also explain why the WWE was willing to pay top dollar to guys, especially AJ, who they just weren't that interested in before.

So, I'm not married to the idea, but I am really curious to see what everybody thinks.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

It's a good thing you're not married to the idea because it's horrible.

Yeah the concept is the same but to come right out and name it the NwO and then having Cena lead it is a good way to get people to want nothing to do with them.


Keep the name and have either Styles lead or Balor when he gets called up.

 

[sikkbones]

Nwo cena makes a lot of sense, and vince is afraid to turn him heel because of merchandise sales,

just do NWO he can still wear his signature jorts and style... only darker...

and all you would really need is someone like Nash managing.

 

[LoveReignsO'erMe]

I don't mind Cena going heel and leading a stable of vets rebelling against the "new era", but throwing the [Balor] Club into it and calling it all nWo is not the right move. I would actually like to see a Cena stable of discarded vets vs. [Balor] Club feud. Give Cena a revitalized Cody Rhodes and...the Dudleyz?

Not that any of this would happen, but Cena turning heel would be fine with me, just not in conjunction with the club, and not rebranding anyone nWo.

 

[OYDK]

Other than naming them the NWO, it's a good idea. I can just imagine the NJPW marks crying into their pizza seeing John Cena lead a knock-off version of the Bullet Club with Styles or Balor as his inferior. I'd go as far as saying that Cena could get Hogan heat if they ever decided to go this way and did it well. It fucking sucks that New Japan holds the rights to the Bullet Club name, because that is a fantastic brand to build off of, but it's not the be all end all. There are much more interesting names to pick in this hypothetical scenario than NWO or The Club. Fuck me if I know, but there are.

Despite the negative nancy's this scenario would sell like hot cakes and be one of the better and more intriguing ways to turn Cena against the ENTIRE audience instead of the boos and cheers being switched between the demographics. I think anyone saying they're not interested in this type of program would change their tune pretty quickly if it ever actually happened.

 

[sMark]

Why you really need Cena to lead them, why not Styles as World champion? Give Styles the title, make Nash & Hall managing them for a couple of months, put Black & White on all of them and then replace Nash with some new big guy who will work in Giant's role (Corbin for example) - done.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

No. Vince already recycled that story after WCW recycled the Bullet Club story. So now that WWE has the original Bullet Club, why bother triple recycling an idea if you have the original club? If they can't call it Bullet Club, just rename it Balor Club.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Cena turning heel and leading a bunch of Bullet Club guys could be interesting to see. A lot of fans, however, would immediately start going into dry heaves because they feel that guys like Styles, Balor or whomever is so universally superior as a wrestler to Cena.

If Vince ever decides to turn Cena heel, I think he's going to have to do it at some point fairly soon down the line. Cena's 39 and he can't realistically last forever with the sort of full time schedule WWE has. Personally, I've never bought into the notion of Cena really returning in half the time he was supposed to; not saying it isn't possible, but I think that's it's mostly a work as it goes with Cena being this Superman type figure who can suffer severe injuries and come back in half or a third of the time that just about anyone else could.

That's neither here nor there but rebranding these guys the nWo, while interesting, has the potential to backfire. It's not 1996 anymore and the mystique of pro wrestling is gone, so EVERYONE now would truly, 100% know that these guys aren't really "taking over" WWE. I don't think they'd really recapture the spirit of the original nWo, I don't think anyone could for that matter. With that being said, there's the potential for these guys to forge their own identities within the nWo brand itself.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

One of the biggest things missed when discussing Bullet Club outside the context of Japan is the fact that they're all gaijin or foreigers. They're not the foreigners we're used to seeing in the Americas, waving flags and spewing nationalism, but they're still foreign heels. That kind of set them aside from nWo, but it's a lost facet on American television.

Calling anyone other than Hall/Nash/Hogan the nWo would be Fake Diesel levels of crap. Speaking of Fake Diesel, he became a legend when he adopted his own gimmick.

There's a reason Triple H hasn't called every faction he's been a part of DX; it allows those factions to be there own thing. The nWo legacy and concept overshadows Styles/Gallows/Anderson, whereas their own faction can be greater than the sum of their parts.

It's funny to see WWE unable to use the name Bullet Club when they've suppressed their former employees from using copyrights for years. Remember when nWo was The Band in TNA? I don't know copyright law, but now that Bullet Club is on American TV via ROH, I bet that seals the deal.

The Club needs to be it's own entity. No faction escapes nWo comparisons, just as no three man tag escapes Freebird comparisons, as no long IC title run escapes Honky Tonk comparisons. The comparisons and similarities don't dictate a need to simply adopt the names of the previous concept.

I don't believe The Club is the final name, nor should it be nWo. It sure as heck won't be Balor Club. I cannot believe some people seriously believe that to be a possible, let alone acceptable name. Let the nWo rest, its time has passed.

 

[lil steroid meat]

Don't think they need to have it do anything with nWo. If not for the fact that it's basically pouring all of the buzz they are bringing from NJPW down the drain...

It also makes no sense for them to keep relying on Attitude Era/late 90's stories and ethos to survive. This is something they've finally seemed to get past. If this is truly a NEW era, then let it be a new era.

But I do agree with Cena coming back to lead this new stable as a heel. It registers him as a heel on two levels:

1. The kids who see him beating up the good guys.

2. But to the marks/internet fans, it's big corporate goofy WWE Cena ruining the "cool" of The Bullet Club created by NJPW.

So they're gonna get uber heat.

I'm lost on what to call it also and it's a shame that it will have no semblance to the Bullet Club but calling them a 20 year old faction that we last saw as shells of themselves is not the answer.

 

[thebarber]

Pretty sure I remember reading a couple of months ago WWE have trademarked the term Bulletproof. It would appear very logical that this will be the phrase or name used for the faction that joint Anderson and Gallows. The Club isn't going to cut it, short term. This AJ vs Reigns fued will hold another ppv then Cena returns. If Balor was coming up to the main roster, it would have happened by now. So WWE have a plan in mind. Personally I see Seth Rollins leading Bulletproof upon his return

 

[JoeMallard]

Pretty sure I remember reading a couple of months ago WWE have trademarked the term Bulletproof. It would appear very logical that this will be the phrase or name used for the faction that joint Anderson and Gallows. The Club isn't going to cut it, short term. This AJ vs Reigns fued will hold another ppv then Cena returns. If Balor was coming up to the main roster, it would have happened by now. So WWE have a plan in mind. Personally I see Seth Rollins leading Bulletproof upon his return

Finn Balor has Bulletproof written on his shirt and on the back of his jacket, no one besides him will be the leader.

 

[kadroan]

The similarities are obvious. New Japan established the Bullet Club as a group of fan favorite cool heels very much in the style of the nWo, but obviously couldn't use the name since Vince owns it. Vince can't use the Bullet Club for the same reason. So why not just cut out the middle man and rebrand them the nWo?

The Club is simply not adequate as the name of a major group. It's too generic and it's not going to move merch in the way I'm sure they want. It also sends to me to fairly obviously be a placeholder for whatever name they end up with. The Balor Club seems even more problematic since everybody would have to subordinate themselves to Finn and it would pigeonhole them too much for my taste. Something better has to come along.

The Club and the original nWo also bear some thematic similarities. Both debuted as invaders from a rival organization and got into feuds with the top guys in the company (Roman in this case; Sting, Flair, and other WCW guys in the original).

To take it a step farther, the missing similarity is a former top guy turning heel and being the leader, which brings me to a major problem this would solve:

Something has to change with one John Cena. Simply put, his spot is gone, so they are finally going to have to do something new with him. So you write the angle with Roman getting attacked by The Club, Cena comes out and swerves by attacking Roman and lays out a promo, something like "This isn't just a new era. It's a new world order."

I can already hear the gnashing of teeth at the idea of having Cena take over this group of guys we like, and frankly I have mixed feelings about it myself. But it does seem like it would make sense as a logical trajectory of the angle and would solve the problem of Cena. It would also be of benefit to the company because both Cena and Roman could still move mountains of merch, which just isn't going to happen if it's just old top guy and new top guy. It would also explain why the WWE was willing to pay top dollar to guys, especially AJ, who they just weren't that interested in before.

So, I'm not married to the idea, but I am really curious to see what everybody thinks.

I wouldn't like it. I consider The Club to be like an evolved version of nWo, similar to how Evolution is similar to the Four Horsemen.

I think Cena is fine the way he is. Nobody can't seem to take the number one spot for him.

Only way I'd see a nWo return in WWE works is if Nash joins (in a non-wrestling role).

 

[King Patrick Star]

I think it would work if the Club became the nWo. They already adopted many of the nWo’s characteristics. They are “2 Sweet” “4 life”. They use the “Wolfpac” and “X” crotch chop hand gestures. John Cena joining and leading this Stable would be exactly like Holloywood Hogan in the nWo. He could be the well established leader that really doesn’t fit it with the rest of the group, but forces himself in anyway. The original Bullet Club members could be like the Wolfpac of the group, and any SuperStars who jump ship from the WWE to the Club could be like WCW SuperStars joining the nWo. I’d like to see Randy Orton play the Randy Savage role.

The most important part to keep in mind is merchandise sales. My 7 year old asked me to buy him nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac shirts the other day. If the nWo is active today, how many more kids would ask their parents for an nWo shirt?? This would breathe new life in Cena’s currently stale character, much like it did for Hollywood. They could even bring some Legends back to make appearances alongside today’s generation of nWo members.

I would really like to see a new generation Four Horsemen Stable as well.

 

[Rayne]

I think the quickest way to kill any and all Bullet Club related momentum in the WWE would be if they were to make the nWo allusions explicit.

The nWo was of course one of the biggest stables in professional wrestling; in 1996. Twenty years later and the only thing we've had more of than nWo rehashes are ECW reunion shows. Today, the nWo represents what writers do when they have no better idea then to rehash an old idea again, in hopes of chasing that ever dwindling nostalgia pop.

The Bullet Club, nWo, and DX allusions are obvious to anyone who was watching professional wrestling in the late '90s. That's the point; it's a wink at the fourth wall, and a great way to build up heat amongst people who accuse them of ripping off the older stables. (I positively love the "I hate the Young Bucks because professional wrestling is supposed to be this and I'm not a mark you're a mark" threads that crop up every couple of months.) Say you tell a joke; when you let people figure it out for themselves, you get a better reaction then when you explain the punchline to them and tell them why it's funny.

The crotch chops, the black/white motif, the "too sweet" gesture, it's all incredibly obvious. (And if it pisses you off, it's working.) There's no need to spell it out for people when the only thing you'd accomplish is killing the momentum of any BC members in the WWE.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

I think it would work if the Club became the nWo. They already adopted many of the nWo’s characteristics. They are “2 Sweet” “4 life”. They use the “Wolfpac” and “X” crotch chop hand gestures. John Cena joining and leading this Stable would be exactly like Holloywood Hogan in the nWo. He could be the well established leader that really doesn’t fit it with the rest of the group, but forces himself in anyway. The original Bullet Club members could be like the Wolfpac of the group, and any SuperStars who jump ship from the WWE to the Club could be like WCW SuperStars joining the nWo. I’d like to see Randy Orton play the Randy Savage role.

The most important part to keep in mind is merchandise sales. My 7 year old asked me to buy him nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac shirts the other day. If the nWo is active today, how many more kids would ask their parents for an nWo shirt?? This would breathe new life in Cena’s currently stale character, much like it did for Hollywood. They could even bring some Legends back to make appearances alongside today’s generation of nWo members.

I would really like to see a new generation Four Horsemen Stable as well.

Rehashing old ideas only works in simple one on one feuds. Vince already tried the NWO in WWE and it fell flat with a smacking, splattering noise. I don't think he's going to try another CPR session with the NWO. I loved the NWO when it was hot. I had no idea they were designed after Bullet Club.

 

[BaconBits]

Going back to the past is a horrible way to move into the future. Let "The Club" be its own thing.

 

[resignedknight]

All fair points, and I appreciate the substantive discussion both in favor of the idea (or some portion of it) and those against it. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

 

[MERPER]

I don't think a nWo reincarnation would be the way to go but I do think they need to pick up steam of a "new era" as they keep eluding to vs. the "Establishment" once guys like rollins, orton, cena return from injury.

There are pretty clear lines to be drawn and should create a great several months of rivalries from, say, Summer Slam through Survivor Series or longer.

Heck, it would even provide a natural split/shakeup in the RAW GM tandem with Steph/Triple H going the way of the old establishment and Shane going the "new era" route.

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

It's a good thing you're not married to the idea because it's horrible.

Yeah the concept is the same but to come right out and name it the NwO and then having Cena lead it is a good way to get people to want nothing to do with them.


Keep the name and have either Styles lead or Balor when he gets called up.

+10000000000, every WWE fanboy wants a WWE version of the "Bullet Club." To the op...it's not happening and it's a horrific idea! The Bullet Club is New Japan's baby and to be honest "the Club" sounds downright stupid to me.

 

[ShinChan]

Nah, I wouldn't want "The Club" to become NWO.

I wouldn't want it to even resemble Bullet Club in terms of storyline.

First of all, It is a too bad name. Secondly, I would want this stable to have it's own unique place in wrestling. I don't want WWE to copy and paste from The Bullet Club storylines. Then it would look like a ripoff of the bullet club if it resembled the NJPW's top stable.

WWE needs to provide a decent name for this stable. The stable would be much clear when Balor arrives on the main roster which he could do soon.

WWE should be creative with this stable and this stable can help in elevating the pro wrestling if booked rightly.

 

[DirtyD79]

Rehashing old ideas only works in simple one on one feuds. Vince already tried the NWO in WWE and it fell flat with a smacking, splattering noise. I don't think he's going to try another CPR session with the NWO. I loved the NWO when it was hot. I had no idea they were designed after Bullet Club.

And what's more he even had the original nWo members too. We don't need another nWo revival and we damn sure don't need it being led by John Cena. The Club is doing just fine as is.