ROH/NJPW Spoilers: Frankie Kazarian turns on Christopher Daniels and joins the Bullet Club
What’s the story?
For the past couple of years, Ring of Honor has formed a strong partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Whether it is the Global Wars annual inter-promotional events, or the ROH World Championship being featured on the biggest NJPW pay-per-view of the year, Wrestle Kingdom, the alliance between ROH and NJPW brings an eclectic blend of two styles of wrestling for fans to enjoy.
One of the biggest components of the partnership is the extension of the villainous New Japan faction, the Bullet Club. The group was established in 2013 by Prince Devitt (Finn Balor), Karl Anderson, Bad Luck Fale, and Tama Tonga, all gaijin (foreign) wrestlers, to denounce the prestige of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Since then, names such as AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, and Adam Cole have all taken the leadership role of the faction. Moreover, there have been a number of surprises regarding people defecting to the group. The lastest shocker comes by way of Kazarian.
In case you didn’t know...
Both Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian both became very established names in the X Division while competing for TNA. Daniels and Kazarian won multiple championships in TNA, sharing a total of nine X Division title reigns. However, it was not until they joined up is when their characters really had an opportunity to shine through their athleticism.
Known as Bad Influence, Daniels and Kazarian became one of the best and most charismatic tag team in TNA between 2012 and 2014. Oddly, however, TNA did not capitalize on this momentum longer than they should have, and the two were released from the company. Thankfully, they were able to join ROH and thrive as The Addiction, winning the ROH World Tag Team Championships on two occasions.
The heart of the matter
As reported by Wrestling INC, Kazarian appeared to be protecting his longtime partner from a Bullet Club attack, but went on to attack Daniels and reveal himself as the newest member of the Bullet Club.
“After the Bullet Club defeated Jay Lethal, Bobby Fish and the Briscoes, the Briscoes chased the Bullet Club while Adam Cole got in the ring to gloat about his win. This prompted Christopher Daniels, who was on commentary, to get in the ring and attack Cole. Daniels then grabbed a pair of scissors and hair clippers to shave Cole's head, like the Bullet Club did to Lethal and Michael Elgin.”
Kazarian then entered the ring to seemingly help Daniels. As Daniels turned his back, Kazarian took off his jacket to expose his Bullet Club shirt, and the rest of the group came back in the ring to attack him.
What’s next?
At nearly 46 years old, it appears that Christopher Daniels may finally get his opportunity to win a major world championship. It was announced that Daniels recently signed a contract extension to stay with ROH, which has already shown its benefits. Daniels defeated Jay Brisco, who has one of the most impressive win-loss singles match records in the past few years, to win the Decade of Excellence tournament and compete against Adam Cole for the ROH World Championship at the 15th Anniversary Show.
Sportskeeda’s take
After over 20 years in the business, and being involved in the very first ROH World Championship match in 2002, it looks as if Christopher Daniels will finally get his well-deserved crown of being on the top of the ROH echelon. This also will mark Daniels’ first time as a solo babyface character in a number of years, so it would be a very pleasant moment to see him defeat Cole and win his first major world championship.