At NJPW Battle in the Valley 2023, David Finlay made a statement by attacking Jay White on his exit from the company. Finlay assumed the mantle of Bullet Club leader upon White's departure, and put together a group of War Dogs that have carried on Bullet Club traditions.
Finlay has ascended up the New Japan Pro-Wrestling rankings, advancing to the quarterfinals of the G1 Climax tournament in 2023 and winning the NEVER Openweight Championship at Power Struggle.
At Wrestle Kingdom 18, Finlay defeated Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay to capture the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. Though he lost the title to Nic Nemeth at The New Beginning In Sapporo 2024, he regained it at Wrestling Dontaku.
Speaking to Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Finlay spoke on NJPW believing in him over the last year and a half and getting himself in the position that he's currently in.
"It was a lot of years of hard work that finally paid off for me. I came into New Japan, April of 2015. Did a best of the Super Juniors tournament. It wasn't really quite good enough to not be a young boy, so I kinda got like backtracked to young lion status and then I went through the whole system and a lot of years were hard. There was a lot of spinning my wheels and treading water. So to be on a stage that big in a match with Jon Moxley, who is great and Will Ospreay, who is also great and to come out on top, you know, just confirmed everything that I believed in myself for years. I like that it kind of pissed people off that I beat them both after they tried to gang up on me. So that always makes me happy," he said.
Asked if he has pride in carrying the NJPW banner, Finlay replied, "Yeah, of course. Of course I do. I mean, Wrestle Kingdom on my Titan Tron. Big bold letters, Savior of the Company. That is what I am. Whether people want to admit it or not, I am the one that's going to drag New Japan up and make us the number one company again."
Finlay is set to team with his mates in the War Dogs Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney in a six-man tag team bout against Kevin Knight, Rocky Romero and Yoshi-Hashi at NJPW Capital Collision.
Fans can check out the lineup for the show by clicking here.
The event will stream on NJPW World. Fightful will have coverage of the event on August 30. Fans can still purchase tickets by clicking here.
