History Wrestling / KarlAnderson

'''"The Machine Gun" Karl Anderson''' (born January 20, 1980) is an American {{professional wrestl|ing}}er originally known by his birth name and initial nickname, Chad "2 Badd" Allegra.

** Rocket Kick (running single leg front dropkick) in WWE.
** Used an Wrestling/ArnAnderson-style spinning spinebuster in the NWA. Eventually it became a SignatureMove.

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Karl Anderson has a hot Asian wife. He constantly references her in promos, interviews, and the Talk'n Shop podcast. Yet she's never been seen anywhere in social or wrestling-related media, so you almost have to take his word for it. Or at least you ''had'' to—until May 26, 2016 happened on Website/{{Twitter}}:

** Even after opening the door to photo reveals, he generally believes in maintaining the mystique surrounding his wife as opposed to thrusting her directly into the limelight.

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Karl Anderson has a hot Asian wife. He constantly references her in promos, interviews, and the Talk'n Shop podcast. Yet she's never been seen anywhere in social or wrestling-related media, so you almost have to take his word for it. Or at lest you had to—until May 26, 2016 happened on Website/{{Twitter}}:

** Combined with TakeUpMySword: Anderson and Gallows' Magic Killer finisher is a carry-over from Anderson's tag team with Giant Bernard[[note]]AKA Prince Albert/Lord Tensai[[/note]] as Bad Intentions, which in turn is a carry-over from Bernard's tag team with Travis Tomko[[note]]Wrestling/{{Christian}}'s old bodyguard[[/note]] as well as Tomko's TNA team-up with AJ Styles at the same time.

* BadassBiker: The Bullet Club is heavily inspired by this trope.

* BadassBiker: The Bullet Club is heavily inspired by this trope

* BeardOfEvil: And he also rocks a tight beard.

In early 2008, the NWA developed a new talent exchange agreement with Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, leading to Anderson traveling to Japan in March to replace Wrestling/YujiNagata in the New Japan Cup. Despite being booked to lose his first match, his performance impressed NJPW officials so much they offered him a one-year contract, which soon came with a spot as a midcard worker in their Great Bash Heel stable, eventually becoming the regular tag team partner of fellow stablemate Giant Bernard, previously known as [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF/E]] midcarder Prince Albert/A-Train. In 2009, sometime after nearly all of GBH trading in Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma to become Chaos with Wrestling/ShinsukeNakamura and Toru Yano, Anderson and Bernard became known as Bad Intentions and began challenging frequently for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. However, it wasn't until after getting kicked out of the stable altogether and [[HeelFaceTurn turning face]] that they successfully captured the titles, held them for ''over a year and a half'', and became arguably the greatest ''gaijin'' tag team in New Japan's history. Shortly after their reign ended on the January 4 Wrestle Kingdom show in 2012, Bernard left NJPW to return to WWE.

* TrueCompanions: With most of his other Bullet Club stablemates, as well as "Giant Bernard" Matt Bloom. In RealLife this also extends to other prominent members of the New Japan roster in his time there, including Chaos's Rocky Romero, with whom he and Gallows hosted a podcast called Talk'n Shop.

* DistractedByTheSexy: During the Bullet Club vs. Kingdom feud. Despite frequently acknowledging his hot Asian wife and at times being accompanied by Gallows' wife Amber, he couldn't help but take notice whenever Wrestling/MariaKanellis got on the apron and started seductively gyrating.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Was frequently susceptible to this during the Bullet Club vs. Kingdom feud. Despite frequently acknowledging his hot Asian wife and at times being accompanied by Gallows' wife Amber, he couldn't help but take notice whenever Wrestling/MariaKanellis got on the apron and started seductively gyrating.

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Karl Anderson has a hot Asian wife. He constantly references her in promos, interviews, and the Talk'n Shop podcast. Yet she's never been seen anywhere in social or wrestling-related media, so you almost have to take his word for it. Until May 26, 2016 happened.

Despite the Club being centered around Devitt as the leader, Anderson quickly became the group's main handler of the microphone, and both men had their turns going after what was now Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada's IWGP Heavyweight Championship. For the G1 World Tag League that year, Anderson brought in [[Wrestling/DrewHankinson Doc Gallows]], a big man known for his stints in WWE and TNA, to be his tag team partner. Instant chemistry and success followed, as Anderson and Gallows won the 2013 World Tag League tournament, then went on to beat at Wrestle Kingdom VIII to become IWGP World Tag Team Champions. When Devitt left NJPW and was replaced by Wrestling/AJStyles at the April 6, 2014 Invasion Attack show, Anderson was considered by NJPW to be the official leader of Bullet Club despite Styles becoming its most elite wrestler, effectively forming a BigBadDuumvirate. Throughout the next couple of years, Anderson and Gallows would gain back and lose the IWGP Tag Team titles three times and Anderson would remain the primary voice and co-leader of Bullet Club along with Styles as it soared in popularity both in its native Japan and especially in many of its members' homeland in the United States, all the way up until 2016, when Styles left the company for WWE and was kicked out of Bullet Club, with Anderson and Gallows soon following suit though leaving on their own feet.

** With Giant Bernard early in JPW.

Despite the Club being centered around Devitt as the leader, Anderson quickly became the group's main handler of the microphone, and both men had their turns going after what was now Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada's IWGP Heavyweight Championship. For the G1 World Tag League that year, Anderson brought in Doc Gallows, a big man known for his stints in WWE and TNA, to be his tag team partner. Instant chemistry and success followed, as Anderson and Gallows won the 2013 World Tag League tournament, then went on to beat at Wrestle Kingdom VIII to become IWGP World Tag Team Champions. When Devitt left NJPW and was replaced by Wrestling/AJStyles at the April 6, 2014 Invasion Attack show, Anderson was considered by NJPW to be the official leader of Bullet Club despite Styles becoming its most elite wrestler, effectively forming a BigBadDuumvirate. Throughout the next couple of years, Anderson and Gallows would gain back and lose the IWGP Tag Team titles three times and Anderson would remain the primary voice and co-leader of Bullet Club along with Styles as it soared in popularity both in its native Japan and especially in many of its members' homeland in the United States, all the way up until 2016, when Styles left the company for WWE and was kicked out of Bullet Club, with Anderson and Gallows soon following suit though leaving on their own feet.

More on Karl Anderson's career on [[UsefulNotes/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Anderson here]].

Anderson debuted in WWE with Luke Gallows eight days after Wrestling/WrestleMania 32, and very quickly they made their intentions known: to reform their alliance with AJ Styles and take over WWE. The first part took some convincing initially, but eventually it got done. The second part, however, is still up in the air.

* BigBadDuumvirate: Was part of this with Wrestling/AJStyles from 2014-2016. Styles may have been the highest elite wrestler, IWGP Champion, and general guy to beat, but Anderson was the go-to voice for promos and had seniority as one of Wrestling/BulletClub's co-founders as well as TheDragon to the original leader. If you asked fans, ROH, or NJPW who the leader of Bullet Club was at the time, you're as likely to get one answer as the other.
* CrowdChant: Aside from the Bullet Club name itself, which is pretty much chanted everywhere the group or its remnants are, he's had his promos interrupted by "Fuck TNA" chants at ROH events, such as War Of The Worlds. This isn't hostile, mind you: it's said fully in support, since he was responsible for "bringing back" AJ Styles and Wrestling/TheYoungBucks.

** The Real American Heroes in the western US had rivalries with Wrestling/TheYoungBucks, oddly enough, in both NWA and PWG.

** The Great American Heroes in the western US had rivalries with Wrestling/TheYoungBucks, oddly enough, in both NWA and PWG.

* AllAmericanFace: The Real American Heroes were an arrogant villainous parody of this, especially during their feud with [[MaskedLuchador Los Luchsa]].

More on Karl Anderson's career on [[UsefulNotes/Wikipedia The Other Wiki]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Anderson here]].

Allegra was soon repackaged as Karl Anderson, a distant relative of the [[Wrestling/ArnAnderson Anderson]] [[UnrelatedBrothers kayfabe wrestling family]], as they felt he had an "Anderson style" to his work. The Anderson family association was gradually dropped as he came into his own as a wrestler. By 2007 he formed a team with "Magnum" Wrestling/JoeyRyan called "The Real American Heroes", and outside the NWA began working for Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerrilla and picking up big victories over the likes of Wrestling/FrankieKazarian and Wrestling/ColtCabana.