Jay White’s career is running in parallels to that of Kenny Omega’s career. They’ve made a lot of the same stops—or at least the pivotal ones—and have led the same influential faction in the Bullet Club. Heck…they even have quite the history, which was referenced in last night’s episode of Dynamite.
The Bullet Club’s influence has been thoroughly felt by the fans and those that have passed through its membership line, and its former members are speckled across the world promotions, the wrestlers themselves like an army taking over the industry.
Now with White finally passing through the ‘Forbidden Door’ into AEW after a few runs in Impact Wrestling over the last year, his presence is looming over many in the industry, and after we saw what unfolded on Dynamite last night, it seems as though a few former Bullet Club members are a tad worried about his sudden appearance…wondering perhaps at just why he’s there to begin with.
Adam Cole seemed excited—just as excited as he was for Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly to have shown up in the promotion he himself took by storm just last fall. But it was the Young Bucks that wondered about what it all meant…their worry showing in their faces in the segment from last night’s episode.
Now that’s how to build a story, folks. It’s all lurking in the background…the absence of Kenny Omega…Adam Cole making all these decisions without conferring with the Bucks…all these debuts out of nowhere. It looks like the Elite, or rather Super Elite are in for quite the surprise and perhaps we’ll see some matches that we could only ever dream about before the ‘Forbidden Door’ was opened up once again by Khan. Here’s what Tony Khan had to say about White’s appearance:
“I didn’t secure @JayWhiteNZ until Sunday. I realized after the fact that Friday night I butchered my own definition of Forbidden Door in hyping tonight. I heard the fans’ feedback, & wanted to ensure that tonight was a special #AEWDynamite for all. Thank you everyone who watched!”
via Tony Khan on Twitter
Often in wrestling, announcers will say how an act in the ring has ‘changed the complexion of a match,’ which is an artsy way of saying ‘everything now has changed.’ AEW has changed the complexion of not only itself but the entirety of the industry.
The debut of even Keith Lee last night proves that AEW is intent on making a pro wrestling televised program something to jump up out of your seat during, and boy did I when White appeared and Keith Lee as well. Excited to see what’s next, but these two debuts promise only further excitement, folks, so enjoy.
Domenic Marinelli is an author and freelance writer/journalist. His work has appeared in The Sportster, E-Wrestling News, Pro Wrestling News Hub, CFL News Hub, XFL News Hub, Ringside News, Daily DDT, USFL News Hub, Slam Wrestling, as well as other print and internet publications. He is the author of Generic V, Summer of the Great White Wolf, His Old Tapes (stories & poetry), Across a Dark River in Palermo and so many others. He lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. https://linktr.ee/AuthorDomenicMarinelli