Line #22 Wrestling/KarlAnderson


1	[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/karl_anderson_2016.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:240:Not here to kiss ass.]]
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4	Karl Anderson (born Chad Allegra on January 20, 1980) is an American {{professional wrestl\|ing}}er hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, best known for his work in Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling (NJPW) and later Wrestling/{{WWE}}.
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6	Despite being sidelined for a year with his first concussion early in training in 2000, he resumed his training in 2001 and was able to officially begin his wrestling career in 2002. He spent the next three years working under his real name as one of the young lions of the two Ohio-based wrestling companies under whose schools he trained, the Heartland Wrestling Association and the Northern Wrestling Federation. In October 2005, he found himself wrestling at the Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance's annual convention, drawing the NWA's interest and being invited to further his training at their Los Angeles dojo and begin working for NWA on the West Coast. He accepted, starting with NWA at the beginning of the new year.
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8	Allegra was soon repackaged as "The Machine Gun" Karl Anderson, a distant relative of Wrestling/ArnAnderson's [[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/ProWrestlingGuerilla and picking up big victories over the likes of Wrestling/FrankieKazarian and Wrestling/ColtCabana.
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10	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 [[Wrestling/MattBloom 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.
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12	On his own, Anderson's star only ascended further, reaching the finals of various tournaments in 2012 and even winning the World Tag League as part of the tag team Sword & Guns with Hirooki Goto. However, through 2012 and 2013, his attempts to challenge after IWGP Championships such as Wrestling/HiroshiTanahashi's IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the Killer Elite Squad's (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) IWGP Tag Team titles, always came up short. It was the green light for a behind-the-scenes friendship to become a collective heel turn and faction on-screen that allowed Anderson to become a part of history, when May 3's Wrestling Dontaku saw Anderson and Tama Tonga join [[Wrestling/FergalDevitt Prince Devitt]] and Bad Luck Fale in their attack on Tanahashi, officially founding the force that would become known as Wrestling/BulletClub.
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14	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 KES 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. In February 2016, Anderson left NJPW with Gallows, a month after Styles had gotten kicked out of Bullet Club to do the same, ceding full leadership of the group to Wrestling/KennyOmega.
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16	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. Styles took some convincing initially, but eventually he agreed. Taking over, however, was a different story. While he and Gallows did win the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship twice, their WWE run is mostly considered less impressive than their NJPW run as they failed to establish a dominant force before being ultimately released in 2020 due to WWE having to downsize as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.
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18	Following their departure from WWE, Anderson and Gallows began teasing joining numerous companies, Anderson's primary focus being on a return to NJPW, before The Good Brothers revealed in the summer that they'd signed with Impact Wrestling on a two-year deal that would allow them to also sign part-time with NJPW once borders were open.
19	----
20	!! "THE MACHINE TROPES!":
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22	* ActionDad: Has five children, frequently referencing them and his hot Asian wife in promos since the original Bullet Club days.
23	* AffablyEvil: He may be a loud and coarse individual who revels in kicking ass by hook or by crook, but damn if he isn't one of the coolest guys to do it.
24	* AllAmericanFace: The Real American Heroes were an arrogant villainous parody of this, especially during their feud with [[MaskedLuchador Los Luchas]].
25	* ArchEnemy:
26	** The Real American Heroes had rivalries with Wrestling/TheYoungBucks, oddly enough, in both NWA and PWG.
27	** Wrestling/SuzukiGun's Killer Elite Squad were this for him as a tag team wrestler in NJPW.
28	** As a singles wrestler, Anderson shared the same competitive hatred for Okada, Tanahashi, and Nakamura that his fellow BC leaders have had.
29	** Wrestling/TheUsos, Wrestling/TheNewDay, Wrestling/TheBar, and The Viking Raiders were the most notable championship and faction-related rivals for Anderson and Gallows in WWE.
30	* BadassBiker: The Bullet Club is heavily inspired by this trope and his tag team partner basically is one.
31	* BadassLongcoat: Rocking them in his entrance gear since 2016, through Wrestle Kingdom 10 and into his WWE career. Went back to T-shirts and regular-length vests again by mid-2017.
32	* BaldOfEvil: He's usually a heel, and he's been bald since '07.
33	* BashBrothers:
34	** With Joey Ryan in NWA.
35	** With Giant Bernard early in NJPW.
36	** With Luke "Doc" Gallows later in NJPW and then again in WWE.
37	* BeardOfEvil: He's usually a heel, and rocks a tight beard.
38	* BigBadDuumvirate: Was part of this with Wrestling/AJStyles from 2014-2016. Styles may have been the highest elite wrestler, IWGP Heavyweight 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.
39	* 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 Bullet Club was responsible for "bringing back" AJ Styles and Wrestling/TheYoungBucks from that promotion.
40	* TheDragon: To his best friend Prince Wrestling/FergalDevitt in the first year of Bullet Club. Effectively became CoDragons with Fale when he was brought back into BC by REAL Era leader Wrestling/JayWhite, taking his place back from Tama Tonga in more ways than one.
41	* FaceHeelTurn: Like the rest of Bullet Club's co-founders and many of its members who joined afterward, Anderson was a face prior to becoming too sweet.
42	* FacialMarkings: Occasionally sported these to complement Gallows.
43	* FinishingMove:
44	** Gun Stun (cutter/stunner) in NJPW, sometimes done from the second rope as Swivel Gun Stun.
45	** The Baddest Kick in the World (running big boot) as Chad 2 Badd.
46	** Rocket Kick (running single leg front dropkick) in WWE. This was a SignatureMove beforehand.
47	** Used an Wrestling/ArnAnderson-style spinning spinebuster in the NWA. This later became a SignatureMove.
48	** With Doc Gallows he's got the Magic Killer (an aided whiplash neckbreaker) and the Boot of Doom (Rocket Kick combined with Gallows' fireman carry flapjack), though the latter has yet to score a pin in a match and is usually used to take down guys in out-of-match fights.
49	* ForeignWrestlingHeel: For about 2½ years at least in Japan.
50	* GunNut: Has his own gunfire sound effect, has a taunt where he’s pretending to fire a machine gun, sometimes brings a life-like toy machine gun to the ring with him and two of the partnerships he joined are called Sword & Guns and Bullet Club.
51	* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: In 2015, Anderson was one of many Bullet Club members who found themselves working traveling back and forth between Japan and the US, working heel in New Japan, face in ROH and US independents feds, so on and so forth.
52	* AHeroToHisHometown: Replace "town" with "country" and see above.
53	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Is this with Devitt, Gallows, and Styles in RealLife.
54	* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Karl Anderson has a hot Asian wife. He constantly references her in promos, interviews, and the Talk'n Shop podcast. Yet prior to his WWE run she was never seen anywhere in social or wrestling-related media, as he generally believed in maintaining the mystique surrounding his wife as opposed to thrusting her directly into the limelight, so you almost had to take his word for it. The veil was finally lifted on May 26, 2016 via a Website/{{Twitter}} exchange:
55	-->'''[[https://twitter.com/mcgrillen/status/735952344748335104 @mcgrillen]]:''' [=@KarlAndersonWWE=] please prove you have a hot asian wife...
56	-->'''[[https://twitter.com/MachineGunKA/status/735985887545171969 @KarlAndersonWWE]]:''' [=@mcgrillen=] ''[[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cja_QeHXEAAwLl_.jpg see picture]]''
57	-->'''[[https://twitter.com/mcgrillen/status/736067171365748737 @mcgrillen]]:''' [=@KarlAndersonWWE=] legend...well played
58	* {{Jerkass}}: If you're not in his crew, he's mean to you and proud of it.
59	* LargeHam: Get him talking freely, he is one of the most boisterous and animated guys in any room.
60	* LightningBruiser: Speed and agility, understated power, good in a fight; yep, he qualifies.
61	* MrFanservice: He got ripped abs in 2018. Expect him to show them off.
62	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: You don't get to call yourself Machine Gun and have it stick for over a decade without being a dangerous man.
63	* OnlyInItForTheMoney: He came to WWE to make money, win titles, and beat the crap out of people. He and Gallows call it "being mean and making green."
64	* PowerStable: G.B.H., Chaos and Bullet Club in New Japan.
65	* PowerTrio: With [AJ Styles/Finn Bálor] and Luke Gallows in what WWE [[WritingAroundTrademarks simply calls The Club/Balor Club/The OC]].
66	* PutOnABus: Kayfabe-wise, he and Gallows' failure to protect AJ Styles from getting buried by The Undertaker completely dashed all hopes of their covenant taking over WWE, so they quietly left. In reality they were furloughed due to massive budget cuts related to the COVID-19 shutdowns, particularly after Vince was forced to shut down the [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball XFL]] at a loss even quicker than the last time.
67	* RedBaron: "2 Badd" as Chad Allegra. "The Machine Gun" and "The Toughest Man in the Building" as Karl Anderson.
68	* RedOniBlueOni: Was usually the Blue to Doc Gallows as the "A Team", though occasionally he was the Red to AJ Styles instead.
69	* ShoutOut:
70	** Anderson acknowledges that the various [[Wrestling/TheKliq Kliq-inspired gestures]] he and other Bullet Club members did was a deliberate homage to the Kliq and its spinoff stables, Wrestling/DGenerationX and the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder.
71	** Combined with TakeUpMySword: Anderson and Gallows' Magic Killer finisher is a carry-over from Anderson's tag team with [[Wrestling/MattBloom Giant Bernard]] 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.
72	* ShowSomeLeg: 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.
73	* SirSwearsALot: When talking off the clock or especially in New Japan. He and Doc together could turn a SwearJar into a gold mine.
74	* ToxicFriendInfluence: He and Gallows are portrayed as this in WWE. They actively provoked AJ Styles to both of his heel turns in WWE, and despite the brief Bálor Club alliance in 2018 being their HeelFaceTurn it was also the closest that Finn came to being a heel prior to returning to NXT in late 2019. Furthermore, going by the subtle off-mic interactions with both Bálor Club and The OC, Anderson seems to be more of the right hand man advising or encouraging the central singles star as to how to move forward, while Gallows is the hotheaded enforcer more than happy to bring the muscle to the table.
75	* TrueCompanions: With most of his other Bullet Club stablemates, as well as [[Wrestling/MattBloom Giant Bernard]]. 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. And if anyone doubted he was this with his larger good brother, he confirmed it when he named his fourth child Cash Gallows, with Isaiah Cash being the big man's ''Ring Ka King'' ring name.
76	* UnrelatedBrothers: Karl Anderson was originally packaged by the NWA as a distant relative of the Anderson family, almost none of whom are related to each other in real life. Since he didn't like using the Anderson gimmick as a crutch, this was largely phased out after a few years, with the most common reference now being that he reminds some people of Arn Anderson.
77	* WorthyOpponent: Wrestling/HiroshiTanahashi considered him this in 2013, at least before he turned back heel.

Context Wrestling / KarlAnderson