WWE's new shirt for Finn Bálor makes The Bullet Club its own

It's pretty widely assumed among pro wrestling fans and followers of WWE that this weekend will make official NXT champion Finn Bálor's top dog status official for that brand.

His title win over Kevin Owens in Tokyo, Japan was a nice story for the man who rose to prominence in that country, but it was one match on a show that was marketed with Brock Lesnar and main evented by a John Cena tag. Even with the rematch being billed as a "double main event" and some folks even suggesting it might not go on last, vanquishing the previous champ once and for all will set up The Demon as the focus of NXT booking for the next six months to a year.

Fitting then that the occasion should be marked with some new merchandise for the Irishman...

Stylistically, it's a home run. Simple, bad ass, doesn't scream "WRESTLING SHIRT"...even the simple logo should appease the "stop putting $#!+ on the back" crowd.

For followers of WWE's alleged copyright war with The Young Bucks and New Japan Pro Wrestling, it does co-opt officially co-opt the McMahon-onized version of Finn's old stable, The Bullet Club. The design is tweaked considerably from the many different third-party shirts that have used the logo of New Japan's stable and the Bálor name, but it, along with Finn using the term in promos and "Too Sweet"ing fans before and after matches is hard to dismiss the notion that the company is making sure to use these things as a way to ensure their right to sell them.

In terms of the story that might be told at TakeOver: Brooklyn and beyond, a club does imply more than one person...could the NXT champ pick up some teammates, or even an advocate?

Time will tell. In the meanwhile, how bout that shirt, though? Get yours here.