Prior to Tuesday night’s SmackDown tapings from San Diego, California, former Bullet Club members Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson attacked once again.
Courtesy of Instagram user @Lloydbravo:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEH5PRenWiA/
– Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson are scheduled to be in Los Angeles for tomorrow’s RAW. F4WOnline.com reports that the two will be backstage at the Staples Center for the show, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be debuting. The two were also backstage in Dallas and Houston for last week’s RAW and SmackDown.
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) April 8, 2016
– There will be a limited crew working this Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, CA. Superstars leaving the country after RAW for WWE’s European tour include Roman Reigns, The New Day, Charlotte, Kane, The Wyatt Family, Sheamus, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, The Dudley Boyz and others. Talent available for SmackDown includes AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, The Miz, Sami Zayn, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio, Rusev, Big Show, Ryback, and Dolph Ziggler.
Scott Hall tweeted this photo late last night:
https://twitter.com/SCOTTHALLNWO/status/717258622586060801
Hall is one of the former NWO members who endorsed the “NWO tribute band” aspects of the Bullet Club’s act in New Japan Pro Wrestling, with his son Cody even joining the group before long. As for Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, it was somewhat surprising that they didn’t make their debut on Raw last night, especially with WWE seemingly going all in with bolstering the main roster’s tag team division. On the other hand…maybe it shouldn’t have been. The belief is that they’ll be joined by Finn Balor to reform the Bullet Club as the Balor Club, but Balor is still:
So it remains to be seen when and how they’ll debut, but they’re clearly signed at this point. Gallows and Anderson held the IWGP [Heavyweight] Tag Team Championship on several occasions in NJPW and finished up with the promotion several weeks ago.
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows are scheduled to be at this week’s WWE TV tapings, as first reported by PWInsider. They will be backstage at WrestleMania on Sunday and are scheduled to debut on the main roster within the next week.
Karl Anderson was training at the WWE Performance Center earlier this week. NXT head trainer Jason Albert tweeted a photo of Anderson in Orlando, so they’re not keeping it a huge secret.
It remains to be seen if they will be aligned with Finn Balor from the get go. Rumored names for the faction include Balor Club and Bulletproof.
Balor defends the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe tomorrow night at NXT Takeover: Dallas.
It is Monday today pic.twitter.com/L9QomAS9Wm
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) March 28, 2016
— The Machine Gun (@MachineGunKA) March 18, 2016
Former NJPW star Karl Anderson is training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
Earlier today, NXT Champion Finn Balor tweeted a cartoon of himself along with Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows wearing “Balor Club” shirts. Shortly thereafter, Anderson posted another cryptic tweet about about what’s to come:
"As it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end,
WE tried to Warn them.."
?— The Machine Gun (@MachineGunKA) March 28, 2016
NXT head trainer Matt Bloom tweeted the following photo of (his former tag team partner) Karl Anderson lifting weights at the Performance Center. Anderson and Gallows are expected to debut for WWE imminently.
Look what the Easter Bunny dragged in ….. pic.twitter.com/Eqt534KuzK
— Matt Bloom (@NXTMattBloom) March 28, 2016
Former New Japan Pro Wrestling star Karl Anderson continues to post cryptic messages about his future. On Friday, he tweeted:
— The Machine Gun (@MachineGunKA) March 18, 2016
Anderson and his tag team partner Doc Gallows are expected to debut for WWE within the next month or so. They wrestled their final match for NJPW last month and officially bid farewell to their Japanese fans. Anderson told the Japanese press that he does plan on returning to Japan one day to capture the IWGP Heavyweight championship, but for now, he’s headed to WWE to make himself an even bigger star and see how far he can climb on wrestling’s biggest platform.
https://twitter.com/ChrisManley2013/status/701184941745426433
Former Bullet Club members Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson are scheduled to debut in WWE over the next month or so and they will be coming directly to WWE’s main roster.
Original plans had called for the former IWGP tag team champions to begin training at the WWE Performance Center this month and begin wrestling in NXT shortly thereafter. It was recently decided that they would be better suited for the main roster and there are already plans in place for how they will be introduced. Gallows and Anderson are scheduled to debut on the main roster “around WrestleMania.”
It should come as no surprise to anybody that the team will be affiliated with NXT Champion Finn Balor. Balor is scheduled to defend his NXT Championship at Takeover: Dallas during WrestleMania weekend and will be coming to the main roster after his title reign, whether that’s in April or later this year.
As for what the Balor, Gallows & Anderson faction will be known as, the trio will be using some variation of “Balor Club” or “Bulletproof.”
– Following AJ Styles’ WWE debut at the Royal Rumble and news of Shinsuke Nakamura announcing his departure from NJPW, fans should not forget about Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. While the Bullet Club members have yet to officially sign with WWE, Mike Johnson told Taz yesterday the word going around is that Gallows & Anderson would be brought directly to the main roster, not NXT.
NXT Champion Finn Balor has a long history with Gallows & Anderson in New Japan Pro Wrestling and has been teasing their arrival since the news broke earlier this month. Comment on this article and tell us if you think Gallows & Anderson would make a good fit in WWE.
– NXT will be holding another round of TV tapings tonight from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. After this past Friday night’s tapings and tonight, WWE will have NXT shows that will bring them up to WrestleMania week and NXT Takeover: Dallas.
– “Road Dogg” BG James revealed on Twitter that Naomi is currently out of action due to injury.
@priince_ray @NaomiWWE she's been injured. I feel like if you don't know the facts, you can't cast shade!
— Brian G. James (@BrianRDJames) January 25, 2016
Bill Behrens has worn many hats in the wrestling business for at least two decades, from television syndicator to promoter to booking agent to management to legal representation. He currently serves as those last three for AJ Styles (real name Allen Jones). In light of TNA’s statement claiming that Styles (as well as Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) backed out of signed agreements to join the promotion, Behrens issued the following statement to PWInsider.com:
No contract was ever finalized nor signed by the parties.
That I would need to be involved in the contract process was known by TNA prior to my involvement and understood by them.
TNA and its 1st lawyer did not present in a timely fashion a contract that accurately reflected previous discussions at all. That created great concern tied to past experiences. In that time and prior there was other interest and there were other firm offers on the table and other discussions.
TNA was aware of other interest and various conflicts. TNA was aware a final contract was required. It was creating that contract and controlled that timetable. Too much time passed early on. Other things came into play. No contract was ever finalized with TNA.
To suggest I make any decision for my clients is to misunderstand my role and diminish the role each talent has in making their own decisions, and insults the talent in the process.
The statement came following PWInsider’s lengthy report on the matter from last night, where Mike Johnson outlined the basics of the situation:
TNA badly wanted Styles back, with the feeling that his departure badly damaged the the company since he was their big home-grown star a la Sting in WCW. They started talking in November, and Styles brought up the possibility of Gallows and Anderson also coming in. His Bullet Club stablemates were unhappy over their split of the Bullet Club merchandise profits with New Japan Pro Wrestling and looking for a change of scenery. The trio met with Dixie Carter, John Gaburick, and other TNA staff at Carter’s house on December 14th and the TNA side felt the meeting went great, with a plan in place for a surprise Styles return in a pretape on the Pop TV debut show. From there, when the long form contracts were to be finalized, TNA took their time (and were slowed down by the holidays), a better offer came in (presumably from WWE), and the wrestlers decided not to make the deal.
(So yes, it looks like this may have had little to do with WWE raiding NJPW. It just looked that way with Shinsuke Nakamura also leaving and Mauro Ranallo being tapped as the new voice of SmackDown.)
Relevant. pic.twitter.com/ojb9Obc3aK
— The Tag Rope (@tagropemag) January 22, 2016
Exactly what was signed or agreed to is where Johnson’s version and the other stories going around start to conflict with each other. The TNA side is clearly swearing that Styles and company signed something, but if they did, it wasn’t their actual contract, as noted by Behrens in his statement. From there, accounts include:
The truth is likely somewhere in the middle. One person with knowledge of the situation posited to me that if they did sign anything, it was nothing that would be legally binding, which fits with TNA issuing the statement without taking or even threatening legal action. Johnson’s article does include the TNA claim that Styles was sent plane tickets to go to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, but your mileage may vary if that actually proves anything.
Note: Since TNA’s website has been going down, you can also try Google Cache and Archive.is mirrors of their statement on this matter.
TNA has just made one of the strangest moves in company history. Think of the ground that covers. A little while ago, they posted a statement on their website saying that AJ Styles (real name Allen Jones), Doc Gallows (real name Drew Hankinson), and Karl Anderson (real name Chad Allegra) had committed verbally and in writing to signing to TNA in December, though they hadn’t signed final contracts yet. According to TNA, this happened after a meeting at Dixie Carter’s Nashville, Tennessee home on December 14th where, and afterwards, merchandise was designed on top of plane tickets being mailed. The claim is that this all fell apart over the Christmas holiday, when the wrestlers broke off communication before signing their long-form agreements. According to the statement, “AJ’s lawyer contacted TNA and stated the wrestlers had changed their mind and would not be honoring their commitment to TNA.”
The initial reaction I’ve seen seems to be that TNA, having taken this tact and not threatening legal action in the statement is significant. Why? It comes off like they don’t have confidence in being able to take legal action against Styles et al or the promotion they’re signing with (presumably WWE). On top of that, Anderson/Allegra was still under contract to New Japan Pro Wrestling while all of this was going on, which seems like it might not be the best thing to admit publicly. Either way, unless TNA is simultaneously serving the wrestlers and their destination promotion (again, presumably WWE) with legal action, it seems like something is missing from their version of the story.
It’s worth noting that in 2012, TNA sued former talent relations coordinator Brian Wittenstein as well as World Wrestling Entertainment after WWE hired him and, unsolicited, he offered up a file of TNA contract information. In the complaint, TNA said that “The disclosure exposes TNA to potential liability with respect to its contract — WWE knows the details of TNA’s contractual relationships with its wrestling talent, which could allow WWE to place itself in the right place, at the right time, with an offer to TNA’s talent at just the right place.”
It was alleged that Ric Flair tried to back out of his TNA contract right after Wittenstein gave the information to WWE, but also that WWE quickly told TNA what happened. WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt said at the time that “Our reaction is that no good deed ever goes unpunished. What the WWE did here is what you would hope any company would do in these circumstances it found itself in.” TNA dropped the lawsuit in 2012, but as it was going on, everyone in WWE treated TNA talent as radioactive, with Gerald Brisco reportedly being told he couldn’t even visit his son Wes (a TNA wrestler) in the hospital.
More on this story as it develops…
WWE’s raid of the New Japan Pro Wrestling talent roster kicked off 2016 in a big way, but it’s worth noting that the negotiations with Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson were each handled individually and things just happened to work out around the same time.
Nakamura had talks with WWE in early 2015 but wound up re-signing with NJPW for another year. What many people don’t know is that Nakamura speaks English pretty well. He’s known for his showmanship and charisma and this apparently translates to his English promo ability.
WWE was planning to have AJ Styles debut in the Royal Rumble and we haven’t heard anything about that changing. The AJ Styles situation is an interesting one because he received an offensively low offer from WWE when he left TNA. He decided to work the independent scene and head over to Japan, where he raised his profile and was able to get considerably more money from WWE this time around.
Gallows and Anderson are expected to debut on NXT TV in early March. As we’ve covered previously, NJPW owns the name “Bullet Club” so they won’t be using that in NXT.
(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
WWE Performance Center head coach Matt Bloom recently spoke with WWE.com about the rumors of top New Japan Pro Wrestling stars coming to WWE. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On the rumors of AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling to come to WWE:
“It’s about time. WWE is the largest platform in the world to do what those guys love to do. They deserve to be here because they paid their dues, they worked really hard, and they made names for themselves. The best of the best come here to flourish. They’re gonna take all those years of experience, hard work and dedication, and now show it to the world on an even grander scale.”
On talking to Finn Balor about his former Bullet Club buddies possibly coming to WWE:
“He’s excited. He’s stoked. Finn is doing big things on his own right now, but I’m sure he knows that becoming the champion is difficult and staying the champion is even more difficult. He’s got an ace in his back pocket because he might have some friends coming in that have been known to watch his back. I’m sure that’s very comforting for Finn Bálor.”
On what to expect if The Bullet Club members show up in WWE:
“You hear the boss always say, “You need to reach for that brass ring.” The Bullet Club do things outside the box to continually reach for that brass ring. They’re not afraid to buck the system and be different. They’re not afraid of trying new things. The fans, the locker room, and us as coaches are very excited to see what The Bullet Club might do.”
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. In this installment, JR reacted to reports that AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson are leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling and jumping ship to WWE:
“If WWE signs the NJPW talents that they are rumored to be romancing, it can be a HUGE development for WWE if they handle it efficiently and position these talents as top hands from the get go. Impactful debuts should be the order of the day.
AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura can both be major, singles stars for WWE. WWE does not have two, better singles wrestlers currently on their roster than AJ and Nakumura.”
WWE.com published a new feature story on the rumors regarding top New Japan Pro Wrestling stars AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson possibly jumping ship from NJPW to WWE.
Their article, which they promise to continue to update with any new information that surfaces, mentions that the four are rumored to be WWE bound, however noted the following about Triple H “declining to comment” on the rumors.
“The office of WWE COO and EVP of Talent Relations, Triple H, declined to comment on the rumors for WWE.com.”
The official WWE website story also tells a bit of the story behind NXT Champion Finn Balor’s relationship with the aforementioned NJPW talents, including some of the history of the Bullet Club faction, as well as the Balor Club t-shirts.
“Additionally, the official Twitter account for the Bullet Club tweeted the NXT Champion Monday, telling him to keep more Bálor Club shirts on hand in case they need them. That tweet has since been deleted.”
The article ends with WWE.com pointing out the significance of the four NJPW talents possibly jumping to WWE simaltaneously to fans who might not be overly familiar with the international wrestling scene.
“The addition of Styles, Nakamura, Anderson and Gallows would represent one of the most significant bulk talent acquisitions in WWE history.”
Since the initial post yesterday, some more details have come out with regards to the huge news that various wrestlers have given notice to New Japan Pro Wrestling and appear to be WWE-bound. As noted yesterday, the story first broke publicly via a paywalled posting to former indie promoter and WWE writer Court Bauer’s podcast network, MLW Radio, where Bauer announced that Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, and two or three of Styles’ Bullet Club stablemates had given notice to the company. Being that the Bullet Club’s Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, and Rocky Romero have a podcast on MLW Radio, they seemed like the obvious candidates.
The first update came from Wrestling Observer Radio behind the paywall at F4WOnline.com, with some additional details coming on last night’s traditional weekly post-Raw show. On the shows, here are some of the key details laid out by Dave Meltzer:
The wrestlers who gave notice are Nakamura, Styles, Anderson, and Gallows, and yes, they’re seemingly WWE-bound, though nobody has signed yet. All but Styles, who had no contract, were working on NJPW’s traditional one year deals, which always expire at the end of January. This is not the first exodus of this kind, as Hiroshi Hase helped engineer Keiji Mutoh, Satoshi Kojima, and Kendo Ka Shin jumping to AJPW in 2002 when their NJPW deals were up. Styles had already been removed from ROH advertising and stopped accepting new indie bookings before Wrestle Kingdom, so it was kind of known within wrestling that he was done. He was seemingly written out of storylines at New Year Dash (full spoilers here) earlier today, with Mike Johnson at PWInsider confirming it was his last NJPW booking.
Meltzer made it clear that Nakamura won’t be leaving immediately, instead sticking around for a few months. He shot an angle setting up a new program for his IWGP Intercontinental Championship today at New Year Dash (again, the full spoiler details are here) so at the very least, it looks like he’ll see that through. There’s also the chance that NJPW could make him an offer to stay.
Meltzer made a point of saying that it looks like Styles and Nakamura aren’t earmarked for NXT, in part because of the money that they have to be paying to get them. Nakamura was believed to be making somewhere from a quarter to half a million dollars U.S. each year and Styles had a full calendar of well-paying indie dates (where his road expenses were also covered by promoters, unlike in WWE) on top of his NJPW tours. Whether making that kind of financial commitment means anything as far as WWE’s main shows changing stylistically is harder to tall. Also, as pointed out by Mike Johnson at PWInsider yesterday (before Meltzer’s confirmation that WWE was the destination of the wrestlers), Nakamura also needs to have a work visa secured by WWE so he can wrestle here legally, and that will take time.
Meltzer noted that rumors of Anderson leaving had been well known for a while (he’s right) but didn’t say much more about he and Gallows. While it was speculative on his part, he did throw out the idea of Anderson and Gallows being earmarked for a “Balor Club” heel stable, though that’s not necessarily the most wild guess. As for Gallows’ WrestleMerica indie promotion out of Barnesville, Georgia, which has become increasingly successful, there’s been no word on its status yet. Being that his wife, Kimberly Davis (Amber O’Neal/Amber Gallows/The Bullet Babe) is a wrestler, one would think she could take over the promotion unless it would still be seen as a political issue with WWE.
– The final edition of WWE RAW before WrestleMania 31, which will be a combination show with both RAW and a partial SmackDown taping, will be held on March 23, 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. You can get tickets for the event right now by using the pre-sale code: LAVIP.
– Colt Cabana’s latest podcast features a new interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley. You can check it out at TSMRadio.com.
– Jim Ross’ latest “Ross Report” podcast, which features an interview with wrestling journalist Bryan Alvarez, as well as Karl Anderson, can be found at PodcastOne.com.