Cody Rhodes is a man of many titles. The son of the son of a plumber. The Dashing One. The Prince of Dark Matter. The star that left them in the dust. And now the former WWE Superstar can add one more accolade to his resume… Bullet Club member.
Group leader Kenny Omega made the announcement himself at Saturday’s NJPW World Tag League Finals, running a video package featuring the TNA and Ring of Honor star putting out a cigar on a picture of the Wrestle Kingdom 11 logo, sending a message that Cody will indeed be appearing at the biggest event of the year, live from the Tokyo Dome on January 4th.
It has been one heck of a year for the two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, who left the McMahon empire back in May and has since appeared as a top star for virtually every major promotion around the planet. After working a high profile program with Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis, wrestling in the 2016 PWG Battle of Los Angeles Tournament, and turning heel on former ROH Champion Jay Lethal at the company’s annual Final Battle pay-per-view, Cody Rhodes is officially headed to New Japan Pro Wrestling to join the biggest stable in the business today.
It looks like he’ll be adding yet another nickname to the list as well, as the teaser for his Wrestle Kingdom appearance and various New Japan advertisements on social media are referring to him as “The American Nightmare”!
For those not familiar with the Bullet Club, Cody joins the ranks of a team led by Kenny Omega, who will face Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 11, alongside Adam Cole, The Young Bucks, Tama Tonga and brother Tanga Roa (former WWE Superstar Camacho), the monstrous Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and his ho train, Chase Owens, Hangman Page, and the injured Cody Hall. The group was founded by WWE Superstar Finn Balor in 2013, and once featured current WWE stars AJ Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows as well.
For now we still do not know what Cody’s role in the upcoming Tokyo Dome show will be, but we’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available. It’s worth noting that on his check list posted following his WWE release, Cody included NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata, one of the best wrestlers in the world and a New Japan star that does not yet have a confirmed match at the Dome.
