El Phantasmo Opens Up About NJPW's New Landscape, The End Of Bullet Club, And His Future [Exclusive]

The former NJPW World TV Champion said, "There's just so much left to do in New Japan."

El Phantasmo | New Japan Pro-Wrestling

2026 marks year seven for El Phantasmo in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. During his tenure, he's wrestled through a global pandemic, transitioned from junior heavyweight to heavyweight, joined (and was kicked out of Bullet Club), successfully defeated a cancer diagnosis, and won the NJPW World Television Championship on two separate occasions.

This year has already gotten off to a mixed start for ELP. He successfully defended the NJPW World Television title against DDT's Chris Brookes at Wrestle Kingdom 20 in the Tokyo Dome, his first singles match at NJPW's biggest show of the year.

He'd go on to lose the title in February at New Beginning USA to Konosuke Takeshita after granting five more minutes following an inconclusive draw finish. Soon after, he'd suffer a first-round exit from New Japan Cup at the hands of NJPW Strong Openweight and NEVER 6-Man Openweight Tag Team Champion Boltin Oleg.

After fighting to a time limit draw with Konosuke Takeshita at New Beginning USA, El Phantasmo requested five more minutes to extend the match, leading to him losing the NJPW World Television Championship. | New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Despite his ups and down, ELP has an unbreakable connection with NJPW fans has not wavered, solidifying into a bond that seems to grow deeper with every match he wrestles for the promotion. His colorful, glow-in-the-dark "HDBNGR" merchandise is easy to spot in every crowd at NJPW live events across Japan and beyond, along with homemade signs from fans eager to show their admiration.

"Hopefully, one time, I'll give the Japanese people something to cheer for...I love them, man. They're so sweet. They're so nice. I keep all the cards that they give me, all the fan art that they do. Every autograph signing sells out. Every photograph fan club thing that we do has huge lines," El Phantasmo told The Takedown On SI.

"I don't know why they do [cheer for me], because I don't give them many happy moments and big wins. I don't know why they keep cheering me, but I'm glad they do."

Farewells and hellos

The landscape of New Japan Pro-Wrestling has changed significantly in 2026. Hiroshi Tanahashi, the president and longtime "Ace" of NJPW, retired from in-ring competition at Wrestle Kingdom 20. Fellow gaijins and former Bullet Club members David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, and Clark Connors departed from NJPW, as well as EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi. The younger generation of stars has assumed their roles at the top, especially IWGP Heavyweight and Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji.

The roster shake-up doesn't faze El Phantasmo very much. In fact, he embraces it. "I do like a good blockbuster trade in sports," he said.

"You know, everyone wants Wayne Gretzky to stay with the Edmonton Oilers forever, but when he went to L.A. and went to New York and St. Louis, wherever the hell else he went, it helped those places, too. I do find it exciting that people come and go. Okada couldn't stay in New Japan for his whole career because then he'd just get bored and stale, and they've [the fans] already seen him do everything. Why wouldn't they want to follow his journey doing something else?"

El Phantasmo defeated DDT's Chris Brookes at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20. | New Japan Pro-Wrestling

As some wrestlers depart NJPW, El Phantasmo has his eye on talent that could potentially step up and join the fold, namely DDT star Chris Brookes. "I don't think anybody expected Chris Brookes to make his New Japan debut at Wrestle Kingdom. But I was also very surprised at how full [the Tokyo Dome] was and how loud the crowd was by the time we went on, you know, because we went on at 3:30 [p.m.]," ELP said.

DDT and NJPW have exchanged talent several times in the past, dating back to when then-junior heavyweights Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi entered NJPW Junior Tag League while they were still part of the DDT roster.

Usually, people aren't in their seats, and they're still in the concession aisles, but we went out there, and I was like, damn, this place is 90% full. They were into me and Chris, which is a good sign because he's somebody that I would love to come to New Japan. We're in the cycle again where we lose a bunch of guys, and then now we need to get new guys...He's done everything there is to do in DDT, and I still have a lot left to do in New Japan. So why not come hang out with us for a bit? I think the fans would like that too.

El Phantasmo on Chris Brookes

When it comes to his own legacy, ELP plans to stick with NJPW for the foreseeable future and believes NJPW offers an experience that no other wrestling promotion can provide. "I love the presentation of it. I love how the ring is. I love that big show atmosphere that you get during a G1 or a Ryogoku or a sold-out Korakuen. There's nothing really quite like that, and I wasn't really ever interested in being like a TV character on a weekly soap opera," he said.

Remembering Bullet Club and legends of wrestling

El Phantasmo was kicked out of Bullet Club by David Finlay at NJPW Sakura Genesis 2023. | New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Bullet Club officially came to an end earlier this year when Bullet Club and Unaffiliated merged to form Unbound Company, concluding 13 years of what some believe to be the most influential stable in wrestling history. Former leaders of the faction all went on to become top stars of the 2010s and 2020s, including Prince Devitt (now WWE's Finn Balor), AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, Jay White, and David Finlay.

You just look at the entire history of the members in Bullet Club. I mean, it's, I mean, maybe over 100 people, I don't know, 50, who knows? But like the top-level elite talent in Bullet Club is crazy. There's never been another faction. I think Bullet Club surpasses the NWO...talented wrestlers, maybe not TV making money like Hulk Hogan and stuff,

El Phantasmo on Bullet Club's legacy

"I don't think AEW would be here without Bullet Club. It's fair. I mean, it was those guys, you know, Kenny, Bucks, Cody, Hangman, all those guys were in Bullet Club, and they saw how cool New Japan was. And they're like, "What if we took this and brought it to America?" And you know, they did. And now AEW is the coolest wrestling company in America," El Phantasmo said regarding Bullet Club's lasting impact on North American wrestling.

El Phantasmo spent nearly half of his NJPW tenure in Bullet Club before being ousted in dramatic fashion by David Finlay at NJPW Sakura Genesis 2023. Despite the less-than-ideal ending, ELP still looks back on that time in his career fondly. "To be honest, that's a career highlight to have my own Bullet Club t-shirt and just to be a part of that faction with the little bit that I did get to do. That t-shirt was at Hot Topics everywhere."

El Phantasmo wrestled Hiroshi Tanahashi for the first and only time on October 13, 2025 as part of the Final Ace retirement tour. | New Japan Pro Wrestling

ELP had strong thoughts about the "right" time for a good thing to come to an end and compared the conclusion of Bullet Club to the recent retirements of wrestling legends Hiroshi Tanahashi and AJ Styles.

During Hiroshi Tanahashi's final year as an in-ring performer, he and ELP became very close. The Ace convinced ELP to join NJPW's Hontai unit and the pair even teamed up for Tanahashi's final World Tag League tournament appearance in 2025.

"I'm glad [Bullet Club] ended when it did. I don't want to see things get dragged on too long, and it becomes sad. I was talking about this earlier, like [Hiroshi] Tanahashi retiring and AJ [Styles] retiring. Tanahashi went out with one of the greatest wrestling matches in the Tokyo Dome's history. I think that's something, like he got out before it was too late," ELP reflected.

"I mean, you can see flashes of him slowing down and sometimes not being able to quite get to the top rope as fast as you'd want. But the fact that he went out on that match is like, hell yeah, dude. Same with AJ, went out with a great one against Gunther. These guys are being able to say it's time to leave before they're told it's time to leave and I like that."

What's next for ELP?

El Phantasmo participated in the 2026 New Japan Cup before losing to Boltin Oleg in the first round. | New Japan Pro-Wrestling

While ELP is committed to NJPW for the long haul, he's been very honest about his trajectory within the company and how much is left on the table for him to accomplish.

"It was me and Naito in Korakuen, and ELP in Bullet Club had louder chants than Naito, and I was like, 'Does anyone else hear this?' That was kind of the catalyst of getting kicked out of Bullet Club. Because I guess Finlay and those guys did hear it, and they didn't like that. Then I had the babyface run, but then didn't quite capitalize on [the popularity]. Then I had the tag team with Hikuleo, and then he left. And then I had my whole depression arc, and then nothing really capitalized on that either. It's been a lot of going up and then nothing happens."

I've been there like six or seven years, and I've never had an Intercontinental title match. I never had a Global title match. I never had a U.S. title match. I never had an IWGP title match. It really feels like I've been kept to the lower middle card for some reason and never quite gotten to that next level for whatever reason.

El Phantasmo to The Takedown On SI

Nevertheless, ELP refuses to be deterred by the setbacks. He's still hungry to reach new heights within NJPW and expand on the glimpses of greatness he's experienced in the past.

"I do have a lot of desire to get to that next level, just because I do love those big matches, the main events against Ospreay, the G1s against Takeshita. The main event that I had with Robbie Eagles in the COVID era is one of my favorite matches of all time...there's just so much left to do in New Japan," he remarked.

When crediting parts of this interview, please include the link and "H/T The Takedown On SI/Lyric Swinton".