Devitt recalls, "We were the only people who were really working proper heel. I went from being this super straight-laced babyface doing all these high-spots and dives to like, I completely changed my offense to eye-pokes, nut-shots, and I wouldn’t do any of the fancy stuff anymore.

Originally a hand signal used by The Kliq in the mid-nineties, Bullet Club started using the "Too Sweet" gesture early in their formation, and it had begun to catch on. You could start to see fans doing the hand signal during Bullet Clubs’ entrances.We met at the Los Angeles Dojo in California, where New Japan had like a feeder system. Then, me and him came through the Dojo in New Japan. We started in New Japan as absolute young boys, on small money, and we had to train every day, stay there for 3 or 4 months at a time. Devitt recalls, "I would always wrestle as Fergal Devitt. That’s my real name. I got to Japan, and they have problems pronouncing Rs. Problems pronouncing Fs. Problems pronouncing L’s. I think I was there for about three weeks, and they made me have a try-out match before one of the shows in Sendai. The pair eventually faced each other at Kizuna Road in 2013. However, this time, Devitt was unable to get the win despite lots of attempted interference from the rest of the Bullet Club. Okada had retained the IWGP Heavyweight title, and Devitt would only get another chance if he entered and won the G1 Climax, a tournament typically reserved for Heavyweight only.

After vanquishing the Ace of New Japan at Dominion, Devitt set his sights on the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Later on in the show, after the reigning champion, Okada finished his match. Bullet Club walked to the ring, and Devitt stood toe-to-toe with the champion, challenging him to a title match. Devitt challenges Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.He then trained to wrestle under the Dudley Boys at their school, Team 3D Academy, making his debut in 2008, and eventually finding his way to Japan in 2010 to become a young boy in the dojo system where he became friends with the other three members. Devitt explains, "It was meant to be me turning heel with King Fale as my bouncer, similar to Shawn Michaels and Diesel. But then Gedo (NJPW Booker) had this idea of we might as well lump all the foreign guys together. So, there was Karl Anderson, there was Tama Tonga, and he put us together." So, in the blink of an eye, Devitt had his new ring name that he would wrestle under for the next eight years in Japan. ANDERSON: He held the Too Sweet up in the air and looked at me. I started to get chills. I said, "Are we doing this right now?" The team used this real-life camaraderie when they formed at Dontaku 2013 and became a natural fit.