Is AEW's Bang Bang Gang Still Affiliated With New Japan's Bullet Club? (Exclusive)

Juice Robinson offers clarification on the faction's status.

Professional wrestling's most storied stable of the modern era officially expanded its reach to All Elite Wrestling last year. In April 2023, former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White made his official AEW debut, attacking Ricky Starks alongside Juice Robinson. White and Robinson were tethered together from their time in New Japan Pro Wrestling as members of Bullet Club, a faction that has been running strong for over a decade. Robinson was recruited to Bullet Club while White was its leader. Robinson never technically severed his ties with the mainline Bullet Club, but White was outright replaced as faction leader by David Finlay.

Despite this, White arrived in AEW with full Bullet Club affiliation, announcing a new branch of the stable called "Bullet Club Gold." In the subsequent months, White recruited former AEW World Tag Team Champions The Gunns to Bullet Club Gold's ranks. The group made their entrances with the signature Bullet Club producer tag at the top of their entrance themes and donned golden editions of the classic skull and guns Bullet Club t-shirt. The quartet slowly began to shed that Bullet Club affiliation, utilizing prior nickname "The Bang Bang Gang" as their primary monicker.

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(Photo: AEW)

Speaking to ComicBook, Robinson offered some clarification on his group's name conundrum. 

"I kind of look at it as Legion of Doom and the Road Warriors," Robinson said, referencing how the legendary tag team of Hawk and Animal utilized two different names during their careers. "Officially, what are we called? I don't think that's for me to answer. I know most people probably know the the origin of me and Jay White and where we've come from and what Bullet Club is."

Robinson noted that when Austin and Colten Gunn were added to the ranks, it felt appropriate to start to lean in a new direction.

"It was underneath the Bullet Club banner in Japan, and we both left there, but we when started in AEW, we used the name here. When you introduce The Gunns into the mix, it just seemed like Bang Bang Gang. It just seemed to be like something little newer, a little fresh coat of paint. Their dad was a New Age Outlaw. He was a Smoking Gunn. It just came together. We started laughing about it, printed a couple t-shirts, and there you go. Now, people don't know if it's The Bang Bang Gang or Bullet Club Gold, and I don't know if I know, but either works for me."

White recently made his return to AEW television to help Robinson battle "Hangman" Adam Page.