Former WCW Heavyweight Champion and TNA founder Jeff Jarrett has done a lot in his career, but few know he joined Bullet Club in NJPW.
From his days in Memphis, to his time in WWE, WCW, TNA and GFW, Jarrett has been everywhere in the wrestling world. You never know where he’s going to pop up next.
Perhaps the most shocking was Jeff Jarrett’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018, after his history with Vince McMahon which made fans sure he’d never return to WWE. He has since made multiple appearances including an appearance on the Broken Skull Sessions.
However, nothing was more surprising than when during his run in 2014/2015 run in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Jeff Jarrett joined Bullet Club as one of the most shocking NJPW moments since Billy Gunn faced Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Jeff Jarrett Bullet Club
Jeff Jarrett joining the Bullet Club came during the time of his collaboration with NJPW during his attempt to launch his new company Global Force Wrestling. The company launched in 2013 and is considered a failure, but at the time Jarrett has aspirations of taking on WWE.
Future WWE stars like Cody Rhodes and Bobby Roode made appearances for GFW before their demise, but that was not the most shocking thing. That would be Jeff Jarrett joining Bullet Club in NJPW, one of the hottest stables in years and the group that helped launch The Elite and eventually AEW to the public.
Jeff Jarrett and GFW helped broadcast Wrestle Kingdom 9, an event called by WWE legend Jim Ross on the commentary desk. This helped introduce Jarrett to NJPW and eventually Bullet Club, who he would join.
During a recent AdFreeShows watchalong and Q&A session, Inside The Ropes spoke to Jeff Jarrett about GFW and how he came to join Bullet Club. He spoke about how he got Jim Ross on commentary in his bid to help NJPW and GFW grow in America, with NJPW booker Gedo and former TNA star AJ Styles helping the former WCW join the legendary Bullet Club.
“We got good old J.R. for Wrestle Kingdom 9 and then just one thing happened after another. The Bullet Club was hot, obviously, AJ went over there.”
“So my relationship with AJ Styles fell into it. Tanahashi and Okada worked for us at TNA, maybe not the best run but I had a working relationship with Tiger Hattori.”
“So there was a lot of pieces of the puzzle that connected. I can remember AJ laying out to me that guitar shot scenario with just everything that went down and Gedo, really sharp mind.”
“I don’t know how well known this is, I guess somewhat, but Gedo is a Memphis wrestling fan. Lots of ideas generated off the episodic television. So a lot of the stars aligned.“