The O.C.

FULL NAME

The Club

FOUNDED

May 9, 2016

PROMINENT MEMBERS

AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows

1. NJPW
2. ROH
3. WWE Debut
4. Major Feuds
5. Achievements

ABOUT

1. Group Name: The Club

1. Combined Weight: 328 kg

1. AJ Styles Finishing Move: Styles Clash

1. Gallows and Anderson Finishing Move: Magic Killer

1. Major Accomplishments: WWE Championship (AJ Styles, 2 times), United States Championship (AJ Styles, 3 times), Raw Tag Team Championships (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, 1-time).

1. Entrance Themes: “Phenomenal” by CFO$, “Omen in the Sky” by CFO$

NJPW

On November 11, 2013, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the teams for the 2013 World Tag League which included the team of Bullet Club founding member Karl Anderson and the debuting Doc Gallows who represented the stable in the tournament. Anderson had been working with NJPW since 2008, whereas, Gallows came in as a former WWE and TNA superstar. The duo eventually went on to win the 2013 World Tag League defeating TenCozy in the finals.

At Wrestle Kingdom 8, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows captured their first IWGP Tag Team Championships when they defeated Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.). The Bullet Club duo ended up holding the titles for a full year, defending it six times before losing the titles to Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata at Wrestle Kingdom 9.

AJ Styles, on the other hand, simultaneously made his return to NJPW in 2014 and had signed a contract with the promotion. Upon his arrival to the promotion, Styles challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and was positioned as the leader of the Ring of Honor version of Bullet Club. Whereas, Karl Anderson took up the leadership role for the group in NJPW.

Styles won his first IWGP Heavyweight Title at Wrestling Dontaku 2014, as he defeated Kazuchika Okada via outside interference from Bullet Club’s newest member Yujiro Takahashi. Following two consecutive title defenses, Styles would eventually lose the IWGP Heavyweight Title to Hiroshi Tanahashi after the returning Yoshi-Tatsu prevented new Bullet Club member Jeff Jarrett from interfering in the match. Styles would then enter the 2014 World Tag League along with Bullet Club stablemate Yujiro Takahashi and despite a win over fellow Bullet Club stablemates and reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, Styles and Takahashi failed to advance to the finals.

In 2015, Styles won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the second time and also teamed up with Gallows and Anderson on regular occasions during The Bullet Club’s feud against The Kingdom. Later in the year, Karl Anderson challenged for Shinsuke Nakamura’s IWGP Intercontinental Championship but failed to win the title, as it eventually prompted Styles to step up as Nakamura’s next challenger.

At Wrestle Kingdom 10, Styles lost his IWGP Intercontinental Championship match against Nakamura, whereas, Anderson and Gallows lost the IWGP Tag Team Championships to Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma at the same show.

The following night at New Year’s Dash, Styles was kicked out of The Bullet Club, as Kenny Omega took over the leadership reigns from ‘The Phenomenal One’ and assaulted him with the help of The Young Bucks, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, and Cody Hall. Gallows and Anderson wrestled their final match for NJPW at the 2016 Honor Rising Tour when they teamed up with BC stablemates Tama Tonga and Bad Luck Fale in a losing effort against Katsuyori Shibata, Hirooki Goto, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly.

ROH

Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows made their debut for Ring of Honor on May 17, 2014 at the War of the Worlds tour when they successfully defended the IWGP Tag Team Championships against The Briscoes.

Gallows and Anderson would return to ROH in 2015 and would compete in several tag team matches including a 10-man tag team match featuring their fellow BC stablemates The Young Bucks and AJ Styles against the team of The Briscoes, War Machine, and Roderick Strong.

In 2016, Anderson and Gallows competed in an 8-man tag team match where they teamed up with The Young Bucks and challenged for all three of ROH’s championships against Jay Lethal, Roderick Strong, and War Machine.

Styles, meanwhile, competed for ROH on a rather more regular basis, however, after being fired from The Bullet Club at New Year’s Dash, Styles’ fellow BC stablemates Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, and The Young Bucks assisted him in a brawl against several members of the ROH roster. By the end of the show, Styles would proceed to join The Bullet Club in a group hug, as the group recreated the infamous 1996 WWF Curtain Call in what was Styles’ final ROH appearance.

WWE Debut

In 2016, former Bullet Club members AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows made their WWE debuts having signed with the promotion shortly after the conclusion to Wrestle Kingdom 10.

Styles made his WWE debut as part of the 2016 Royal Rumble match when he entered the 30-man contest at #3 in order to challenge for Roman Reigns’ WWE Championship. Gallows and Anderson, on the other hand, made their debuts on the April 11, 2016 edition of Monday Night Raw.

After several weeks of teasing a potential alliance, Styles, Anderson, and Gallows officially joined forces on 9th May and the trio was dubbed as The Club. However, two weeks later on Raw, The Club’s WWE run came to an abrupt halt as the group disbanded after AJ Styles had blamed both Anderson and Gallows and The Usos in his failure to capture the WWE Championship off Roman Reigns at the 2016 Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

Styles, however, did claim that the three men could still remain “brothers”, as Gallows and Anderson shifted their focus towards the WWE Tag Team Championships on May 30. Later on, in the same night, Styles welcomed back 16-time World Champion, John Cena to WWE and eventually turned heel by attacking the latter with the help of Anderson and Gallows and in doing so, the initial Club reunion had occurred in WWE.

On July 16, The Club was split up in the WWE draft with Anderson and Gallows being drafted to Raw and Styles being drafted to SmackDown Live. Following the split, Styles went on to win the WWE Championship on two different occasions on SmackDown Live, whereas, Anderson and Gallows won the Raw Tag Team Championships on one single occasion at the 2017 Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Later in the year, Gallows and Anderson were drafted to SmackDown Live where another Club reunion occurred, as AJ Styles recruited the duo in his feud against Shinsuke Nakamura.

In 2019, Gallows and Anderson made their return to the Raw brand and eventually encouraged AJ Styles to be the guy he was in during his time with New Japan Pro Wrestling. This led to Styles challenging for Ricochet’s United States Championship on the July 1 edition of Raw, however, following a loss to ‘The One and Only’, Gallows and Anderson helped Styles in beating up Ricochet and therefore, another official Club reunion had undergone in WWE, as the trio established themselves as heels once again.

At Extreme Rules 2019, The Club helped Styles win the US Championship for the third time, as ‘The Phenomenal One’ defeated Ricochet to win the title. On July 29, 2019 episode of Raw, Gallows and Anderson defeated The Usos and The Revival to win the Raw Tag Team Championships to capture the Raw Tag Team Titles.

Major Feuds

In their three-year tenure with WWE, The Club have been engaged in major feuds against Roman Reigns, The Usos, and most importantly against John Cena, all within their debut year in the company.

Gallows and Anderson also had a major rivalry with The New Day, challenging them for the WWE Tag Team Titles on numerous occasions. The duo even has a long history with former WWE Tag Team Champions, The Usos. Whereas, Styles has had major feuds against the likes of Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Shane McMahon, Kevin Owens, John Cena, and more recently against Ricochet.

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Achievements

AJ Styles Win/Loss Record in WWE

1. 203 (57.02%) Matches Won
2. 7 (1.97%) Matches Drawn
3. 146 (41.01%) Matches Lost

Karl Anderson Win/Loss Record in WWE

1. 77 (30.92%) Matches Won
2. 5 (2.01%) Matches Drawn
3. 167 (67.07%) Matches Lost

Luke Gallows Win/Loss Record in WWE

1. 115 (35.38%) Matches Won
2. 8 (2.46%) Matches Drawn
3. 202 (62.15%) Matches Lost