David Finlay: Bullet Club Had Gotten Soft & Cared Mainly About Merch Sales, I Want To Be Feared

Bullet Club Leader and current NJPW NEVER Openweight Champion David Finlay was interviewed recently by NJPW World and discussed a number of topics.

Finlay, who added Alex Coughlin, Gabriel Kidd, Clark Connors and Dan Moloney to Bullet Club was asked how he feels his time in the faction has gone so far:

 Everything is going according to plan. I said last year to expect me, and I don’t think people knew what to expect. But I had this in the works for a very long time. I’m having a killer year- the best of my career. The only one that’s been able to beat me one on one is SANADA, and he’s the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. That’s the only guy that’s been able to come anywhere close.

Finaly was asked to assess new members Alex Coughlin, Gabriel Kidd, Clark Connors and Dan Moloney:

Well, Clark, Gabe and Alex all had similar paths to mine. They were all told to follow Shibata’s path as laid out for them, and what happened? They got forgotten while Shibata goes off playing Pure Champion in Ring of Honor. They saw themselves in me, and I saw myself in them. Then Dan (Drilla Moloney) said it himself, he was in United Empire for one tour and realized that they are boys and we are men.

David Finlay pointed out the difference between his Bullet Club compared to when Jay White and Kenny Omega were leading the faction:

In my BULLET CLUB, I really don’t care about popularity or what the fans think. I’ve been saying it and I’ll say again, this is for killers and savages only. I want every member to be carrying championship gold, and If you can’t carry gold, you bring me bodies.     

NJPW World asked Finlay if he felt Bullet Club had lost it’s way:

In the years after you had the nerdy side of BULLET CLUB in the Elite. You had the Tshirt selling machine that The Good Brothers were. They got soft, they cared about merch and this and that. I don’t. At the end of the day the greats don’t build legacies on how many Tshirts they sell. What’s important is what you achieve in this business. So I want to be feared, and I want my legacy to be greater than anyone that’s come before me.

David Finlay who is in the C Block of the upcoming G1 Climax 33 is scheduled to have his first match of the tournament on July 16th against Tomohiro Ishii. The C Block also includes heavy hitters Aaron Henare, Shingo Takagi, Eddie Kingston, EVIL and Tama Tonga.

Finlay was asked about the “murderer’s row” of heavy hitters in the C Block and his G1 schedule:

 ‘Murderers’ row’ was the first phrase that came to mind for me as well, and I couldn’t be happier. One on one, I have a perfect record against every single opponent in my block that I’ve faced; I haven’t faced everyone, but the ones I have faced, I’ve beat.

When asked about Tomohiro Ishii, Finlay stated:

Ishii’s a stud. I can’t talk much bad about him, but at the same time, I don’t think it’ll be any different than the New Japan Cup. I think he’s going to come in harder, badder and with a chip on his shoulder looking for his win back, but he’s not going to get it.

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