Tama Tonga recently took part in an interview with Chris Van Vliet. During the discussion, he revealed the name that was originally proposed for the faction before it was ultimately decided to call the group Bullet Club.
“I didn’t have no say in the name, I was just like ‘alright, tell me what to do and I’ll do it,'” Tonga said on the show. “Prince Devitt was thinking of calling it the ‘Bullet Brigade’ and Fale was like ‘brigade sounds…what if you called it club?'”
“Fale is from New Zealand and played professional rugby and ‘club’ is a thing. So, that’s where Bullet Club came from. So, took that and ran with it.”
Bullet Club is a faction in New Japan Pro Wrestling that has produced multiple IWGP Heavyweight Champions. AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, Jay White, and now EVIL have held that title while a member of the faction.
Tonga was also asked his opinion of WWE’s version of the club.
“It’s just like anything else, just like Mexico’s LIJ that became LIJ of Japan. Just like the Hurt Business or the Mob whatever. When you are doing something so good, everybody wants to copy it. That’s a nod to us, I’m okay with that but you aren’t going to do it like us,” Tonga said.
Tonga’s comments can be heard in the player below:
