Bullet Club was originally founded in 2013 by Prince Devitt, Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale, and Karl Anderson, as a heel stable made entirely of gaijin, or foreign talent, in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Over the years, however, as wrestlers have left the company -- particularly to go to WWE -- the Bullet Club has experienced lots of membership changes.

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With these roster shakeups also came leadership changes, often presented in kayfabe as coups where the former leader was kicked out of the group. Every leader has his positives, so let’s evaluate each member of the Bullet Club and rank them accordingly.

6 Karl Anderson

Karl Anderson WWE

A founding member of Bullet Club, “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson found himself the leader after Prince Devitt was kicked out of the group in the middle of his Loser Leaves Town Match against Ryusuke Taguchi at Invasion Attack 2014. While AJ Styles debuted as part of BC that same night, he was working as a part-timer, so Anderson was the leader for a while. By the end of the year, however, it was clear that AJ Styles was the leader of the group.

A tag team specialist and therefore a solid team player, Karl Anderson can be considered among the weakest members of Bullet Club not only because he was quietly overshadowed by AJ Styles, but also because he was simply there to keep the ship steady. The BC roster was already pretty strong, and the additions to the group under his leadership range from crucial (Kenny Omega) to dependable henchmen (Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens) to baffling (Cody Hall and Jeff Jarrett).

5 EVIL

IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion EVIL

At the end of the 2020 New Japan Cup, EVIL -- who had been cheating even more than usual throughout the tournament -- turned on his Los Ingobernables de Japon leader, Tetsuya Naito, and defected to Bullet Club, shocking NJPW fans. Given that the foreign talent of the largely gaijin stable was unable to travel to Japan due to COVID-19 restrictions, Bullet Club suddenly became a predominantly Japanese group, and one seemingly led by EVIL.

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EVIL came out strong by defeating Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the Intercontinental Championship, only to lose it back less than two months later at Summer Struggle in Jingu. A bit of a disappointment, and since NJPW managed to get some gaijin into the country for the annual G1 Climax tournament, Jay White appears to have taken back his power. However during backstage interviews, EVIL has made some seriously pointed comments about the Switchblade. It’s clear another Bullet Club power struggle is brewing.

4 Kenny Omega

Kenny Omega

It’s undeniable that Kenny Omega achieved greater heights when he took over the Bullet Club from AJ Styles. After all, he ended up becoming the first gaijin to ever win the G1 Climax -- on his first try, no less. After that, he took part in an epic rivalry with Kazuchika Okada that resulted in some of the most critically acclaimed matches of all time. By partnering up with the Young Bucks, Cody, Hangman Page and more, Omega formed his own subgroup, The Elite, which, thanks to an ensuing Being the Elite YouTube series, earned even more fans and led to the creation of their own promotion, All Elite Wrestling.

However, Kenny Omega can hardly be considered the strongest leader in Bullet Club history. His partnership with Kota Ibushi drove a wedge between himself and The Young Bucks, and the rise of The Elite led to a huge chunk of the group -- the American smark-friendly contingent -- to splinter off from the stable, forming the Bullet Club OGs and leading to a intra-faction civil war. Overall, not great leadership.

3 Jay White

IWGP US Champion Jay White

Ranking “Switchblade” Jay White over Kenny Omega may seem like sacrilege to pretty much every NJPW fan, but it’s undeniable that, despite Omega’s achievements, Jay White can be considered the stronger leader. For one thing, the burgeoning power struggle with EVIL is the result of a global pandemic and not frivolous YouTube shows and Hot Topic T-shirt deals. Moreover, Jay White got a co-sign from Bullet Club founder Tama Tonga when he was announced as the new leader at 2019’s New Year Dash!!, so the group already feels more cohesive.

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So far in White’s reign as BC Boss, the group has added some seriously strong additions, including the veteran KENTA, the gloriously obnoxious El Phantasmo, and of course EVIL and Dick Togo. Whether the latter two will spell White’s undoing remains to be seen, but it’s hard to argue with results, and right now Bullet Club has two former IWGP Heavyweight Champions in its ranks in the form of EVIL and White.

2 AJ Styles

Bullet Club

AJ Styles’ leadership of Bullet Club is a curious one, as it strangely overlaps with Karl Anderson’s stint as leader. While Anderson was considered the leader of BC in Japan, Styles was touted as the leader of the group in America, especially in affiliated promotions like Ring of Honor. So, for many fans, AJ Styles was the leader of Bullet Club, even while Karl Anderson was doing all the managerial work or whatever.

For many gaijin fans, the Styles era of Bullet Club is the Bullet Club, as the former TNA star’s time with the stable served to bring many Western eyes on the New Japan product, creating a bigger buzz than Prince Devitt’s reign generated. Styles can be considered the most successful leader of the group, too, given that he took the IWGP Heavyweight Title from Kazuchika Okada on his first try and won it a second time after beating NJPW ace Hiroshi Tanahashi.

1 Prince Devitt

Prince Devitt

It’s hard not to go for the classic, and Prince Devitt perfectly set the stage for what Bullet Club was about in its founding: a gaijin ace supported by devoted goons, usually steeped in treachery. Devitt’s cam in the form of turning on Ryusuke Taguchi, his tag team partner in the highly successful and beloved babyface duo Apollo 55. Devitt’s change towards an evil (but not EVIL) attitude was an amazing refresh for the performer, and he had a tight-knit posse with Fale, Anderson, and Tonga.

Devitt’s era had the ill-fated Bullet Club Latinoamerica branch, but it also had strong, iconic membership additions in the form of Doc Gallows and The Young Bucks. This resulted in tremendous tag team success, with Gallows and Anderson enjoying a year-long reign with the Tag Team belts in 2014 and The Bucks dominating the Junior Heavyweight Tag division. While Prince Devitt never won the IWGP Heavyweight Title, he managed to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and sweep the 2013 Best of the Super Juniors tournament while leading the Bullet Club.

NEXT: NJPW: Every Current Member Of Bullet Club, Ranked