Karl Anderson Chad Allegra ( January 20 , 1980 ) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name " The Machine Gun " Karl Anderson . . He is currently signed to WWE , where he is a one - time WWE Raw Tag Team Champion . Anderson is best known for his work as a tag team wrestler , particularly in Japanese promotions like Pro Wrestling Noah and New Japan Pro Wrestling , where he is a former four - time IWGP Tag Team Champion . He holds the record for the longest reign and the most defenses with the title , achieved on his first reign with former partner Giant Bernard . Anderson and Bernard are also former Pro Wrestling Noah ' s GHC Tag Team Champions . Anderson is also a three - time winner of NJPW ' s top tag team tournament , the G1 / World Tag League , having won it in 2009 with Bernard , in 2012 with Hirooki Goto and in 2013 with Doc Gallows . He also wrestled for Southern California - based independent promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ( PWG ) between 2007 and 2009 . Early career ( 2000 – 2005 ) . Shortly after beginning his training under Les Thatcher in 2000 , he received a concussion at the hands of fellow trainee Derek Neikirk , which put Allegra on the shelf for over a year . When he finally felt that he was able to return , he contacted Kirk Sheppard who worked for the Northern Wrestling Federation in Cincinnati , who introduced him to Roger Ruffen , the head trainer at BoneKrushers ( the NWF ' s wrestling school ) . Allegra trained for several months before debuting under his real name in his first professional match on May 10 , 2002 in a losing encounter with The Zodiac . His second match was against Prince Justice , who is now better known as TNA ' s Abyss . He also had matches with The Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant , Chris Harris , Shark Boy , and Jerry Lawler in the early stages of his career . In the NWF , Allegra started as part of the Young Lions , a four - man group of popular rookies who entered the promotion at about the same time . First to leave the group was Matt Parks . Allegra eventually joined Parks as a heel and began a memorable feud with Ryan Stone and Jay Donaldson . In the summer of 2005 , the NWF and the HWA began an interpromotional feud . It culminated in a one on one , title vs . title match between Allegra , the NWF Champion , and Cody Hawk , the HWA champion . National Wrestling Alliance ( 2005 – 2008 ) . In October 2005 , Allegra had the opportunity to wrestle at the National Wrestling Alliance ' s Annual Convention where he was noticed by Dave Marquez of the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo . Allegra was invited to train at the dojo in Los Angeles and so after losing the NWF title to Ryan Stone on January 1 , 2006 , Allegra began living and wrestling on the West Coast . On the West Coast , Allegra was repackaged as " Machine Gun " Karl Anderson , becoming a storyline member of the Anderson wrestling family and adopting the family ' s trademark spinebuster as his new finishing maneuver . Over the years , the association with the Anderson family has quietly been dropped . Before long , he won the NWA British Commonwealth Championship before losing it to Alex Koslov . Anderson makes occasional visits in the Midwest , making cameos for Ruffen ' s NWF when he is able and is the current NWA Heartland States Champion for Ed Chuman ' s NWA Midwest promotion . In 2007 , he began teaming with Joey Ryan , on NWA cards promoted by David Marquez . He appeared weekly on MavTV , a small broadcast network , carried on limited stations . The team ' s first title match came against The Young Bucks ( Matt and Nick Jackson ) in a losing attempt for the AWS Tag Team Championship . In April , Anderson won the EWF American Championship from Human Tornado . On July 8 , 2007 , he and Ryan won a 3 - way tag match to claim the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship . Anderson lost his EWF American Championship to Mikey Nicholls on September 7 , 2007 , in a 30 - minute Iron Man match , which also included Ryan Taylor . Anderson and Ryan , now going as the Real American Heroes , successfully defend their championship on multiple occasions , but would eventually lose it to Los Luchas ( Phoenix Star and Zokre ) on February 10 , 2008 . Pro Wrestling Guerilla ( 2007 – 2009 ) . In early 2007 , Anderson debuted for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ( PWG ) , picking up big wins over established wrestlers such as Frankie Kazarian and Colt Cabana . He would continue to appear for PWG over the year , occasionally teaming with Joey Ryan ' s Dynasty faction . On February 24 , 2008 , he would participate in a tournament for the PWG World Championship , defeating Kazarian in his first round match . Later that same day , he was defeated by Human Tornado in the finals of the tournament , which also included Roderick Strong . After an eleven - month break from PWG , Anderson returned on February 21 , 2009 , once again teaming with The Dynasty . On August 28 , he and Joey Ryan unsuccessfully challenged The Young Bucks for the PWG World Tag Team Championship . Anderson made his to date final appearance for PWG on September 4 , 2009 , when he was defeated by Roderick Strong . In 2013 , looking back at his time on the Californian independent circuit , Allegra stated " I actually hated my whole time in L . A . There were always great times , but I look back on it now , and I wasn ' t happy there at all . I just didn ' t enjoy myself " . He has though noted that he did not hate PWG , saying that they treated him well and gave him an opportunity when no one else would . Ring of Honor ( 2007 , 2013 ) . On October 19 , 2007 , Anderson made his debut for Ring of Honor ( ROH ) , losing to Chris Hero in a Survival of the Fittest qualifying match . Two days later , Anderson was defeated by Adam Pearce in a singles match . After not appearing for ROH in over five years , Anderson returned to the promotion on April 5 , 2013 , at Supercard of Honor VII , defeating Roderick Strong . At the following day ' s tapings of " Ring of Honor Wrestling " , Anderson picked up another win over Michael Elgin . Anderson returned to the promotion on July 27 to take part in the ROH World Championship tournament , defeating ACH in his first round match . On August 17 , Anderson was eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinals by Michael Elgin . New Japan Pro Wrestling . Bad Intentions ( 2008 – 2012 ) . As part of the new talent exchange agreement between the NWA and New Japan Pro Wrestling , Anderson replaced Yuji Nagata on March 23 , 2008 in the annual New Japan Cup tournament . His opponent in the first round was New Japan ' s junior heavyweight division ace , Koji Kanemoto . Anderson lost that match due to submission . Based on his performance , Anderson was instantly signed to a one - year contract by New Japan . Anderson then joined New Japan ' s top heel stable Great Bash Heel ( GBH ) and spent the rest of the year wrestling in midcards of NJPW events . After a jump from GBH to CHAOS , Anderson formed the tag team Bad Intentions with Giant Bernard and on June 20 the two of them received a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship , but were unable to defeat the defending champions Team 3D ( Brother Ray and Brother Devon ) . Anderson and Bernard entered the 2009 G1 Tag League and were able to defeat Apollo 55 ( Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi ) in the finals to win the tournament and earn another shot at Team 3D . On November 8 at Destruction ' 09 , the second match between Bad Intentions and Team 3D ended in a double countout . On April 4 , 2010 , CHAOS members Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka turned on Anderson and kicked him out of the stable with help from Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi , who joined the stable in the process . Giant Bernard , who wasn ' t present at the show , ended up leaving CHAOS alongside his tag team partner . On June 19 , 2010 , at Dominion 6 . 19 , Anderson and Bernard defeated the teams of Seigigun ( Yuji Nagata and Wataru Inoue ) and No Limit ( Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi ) in a three - way elimination match to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship . Bad Intentions made their first successful defense of the IWGP Tag Team Championship on July 19 , defeating Seigigun and No Limit in a three - way " Dogfight " . In late October Bad Intentions entered the 2010 G1 Tag League , where , after three wins and two losses , they finished second in their block and advanced to the semifinals , where , on November 7 , they were defeated by the eventual winners of the whole tournament , Yuji Nagata and Wataru Inoue . On January 4 , 2011 , at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome , Bad Intentions successfully defended the IWGP Tag Team Championship in a three – way match against Beer Money , Inc . ( James Storm and Robert Roode ) and Muscle Orchestra ( Manabu Nakanishi and Strong Man ) . On May 3 , Bad Intentions defeated No Limit to make their seventh successful IWGP Tag Team Championship defense , tying the all – time record for most defenses , set by Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono . Bad Intentions made their record breaking eight successful IWGP Tag Team Championship defense on June 18 at Dominion 6 . 18 against Pro Wrestling Noah ' s Takuma Sano and Yoshihiro Takayama , and in the process also became the new GHC Tag Team Champions . Bad Intentions ' ninth successful IWGP Tag Team Championship defense took place on July 3 , when they defeated Hirooki Goto and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi . On July 23 , Bad Intentions made an appearance for Pro Wrestling Noah , making their first successful defense of the GHC Tag Team Championship against the team of Takeshi Morishima and Yutaka Yoshie . On September 9 , Bad Intentions became the longest reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions in history by breaking the previous record of 446 days , set by Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono in 2003 . Bad Intentions made their second GHC Tag Team Championship defense on October 31 , defeating Go Shiozaki and Shuhei Taniguchi at a Pro Wrestling Noah event . During New Japan ' s 2011 G1 Tag League , Bad Intentions suffered their first tag team loss in a year , when they were defeated by the Complete Players ( Masato Tanaka and Yujiro Takahashi ) , but still managed to win their four other matches and advance to the semifinals of the tournament . On November 6 , after defeating the Billion Powers ( Hirooki Goto and Hiroshi Tanahashi ) in the semifinals , Bad Intentions was defeated in the finals of the 2011 G1 Climax by Suzuki - gun ( Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer ) . On November 12 at Power Struggle , Bad Intentions made their tenth successful IWGP Tag Team Championship defense against Archer and Suzuki . On January 4 , 2012 , at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome , Bad Intentions lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Tencozy ( Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima ) , ending their record - setting reign at 564 days . On January 22 , Bad Intentions lost the GHC Tag Team Championship to Akitoshi Saito and Jun Akiyama . In March , Bad Intentions was disbanded , after Bernard left New Japan to return to the WWE . Bullet Club ( 2012 – 2016 ) . Launching his New Japan singles career , Anderson entered the 2012 New Japan Cup on April 1 . After victories over Hiroyoshi Tenzan and multi - time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura , arguably the biggest win of his career , he was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Hiroshi Tanahashi . On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2012 , Nakamura defeated Anderson in a rematch . In August , Anderson took part in the 2012 G1 Climax tournament , where he won four out of his first seven matches , before scoring an upset win over IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi on August 12 , the final day of the tournament , to win his block and advance to the finals . In the finals , which was held immediately after Anderson ' s win over Tanahashi , Anderson was defeated by Kazuchika Okada . During the following months , Anderson continued his feud with Okada , leading to him unsuccessfully challenging for Okada ' s Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome title shot contract on October 8 at King of Pro - Wrestling . On November 11 at Power Struggle , Anderson unsuccessfully challenged Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship . On November 15 , Anderson entered a tournament to determine the inaugural NEVER Openweight Champion . After wins over Yujiro Takahashi , Shiori Asahi and Kengo Mashimo , Anderson was defeated in the finals of the tournament on November 19 by Masato Tanaka . From November 20 to December 1 , Anderson took part in the round - robin portion of the 2012 World Tag League , alongside Hirooki Goto under the team name " Sword & Guns " . The team finished with a record of four wins and two losses , finishing second in their block and advancing to the semifinals of the tournament . On December 2 , Sword & Guns defeated Tencozy to advance to the finals of the tournament , where , later that same day , the defeated the reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions , K . E . S . ( Davey Boy Smith , Jr . and Lance Archer ) , to win the tournament . Sword & Guns received their shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship on January 4 , 2013 , at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome , but were defeated in a rematch by K . E . S . Following his August 2012 win over Hiroshi Tanahashi , Anderson received his first shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on February 10 , 2013 , at The New Beginning , but was defeated by Tanahashi in a rematch . In an attempt to earn another shot at Tanahashi , Anderson entered the 2013 New Japan Cup on March 11 , defeating Hiroyoshi Tenzan in his first round match . Six days later , Anderson was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Kazuchika Okada . On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013 , Anderson faced Hiroshi Tanahashi in another high - profile match , but was again defeated . After the match , Anderson turned heel by joining Prince Devitt , Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga in attacking Tanahashi . The new group was subsequently named " Bullet Club " . From August 1 to 11 , Anderson took part in the 2013 G1 Climax , where he finished with a record of five wins and four losses , with a loss against Tetsuya Naito on the final day costing him a spot in the finals of the tournament . In October , Anderson set his sights on the IWGP Heavyweight Championship , held by Kazuchika Okada , looking to avenge his loss from the finals of the 2012 G1 Climax . The title match between the two took place on November 9 at Power Struggle and saw Okada retain his title . From November 24 to December 8 , Anderson and Bullet Club ' s newest member , Doc Gallows , took part in the 2013 World Tag League . After winning their block with a record of four wins and two losses , Anderson and Gallows first defeated GBH ( Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma ) in the semifinals and then Tencozy in the finals to win the tournament , giving Anderson his overall third G1 / World Tag League win and the second in a row . Anderson and Gallows received their title shot on January 4 , 2014 , at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome , where they defeated K . E . S . to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions . Anderson and Gallows made their first successful title defense on February 9 at The New Beginning in Hiroshima , defeating K . E . S . in a rematch . Their second defense took place on April 6 at Invasion Attack 2014 , where they defeated Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata . Following the event , Devitt left New Japan , leading to Anderson taking over as the new leader of Bullet Club . Anderson and Gallows ' third successful defense took place just seven days later , during New Japan ' s trip to , when they defeated Hirooki Goto and Captain Taiwan . On May 17 , Anderson and Gallows made their fourth successful title defense against The Briscoes ( Jay and Mark ) at a NJPW and ROH co - produced event , War of the Worlds , in New York City . On June 21 at Dominion 6 . 21 , Anderson and Gallows made their fifth successful defense against Ace to King ( Hiroshi Tanahashi and Togi Makabe ) . From July 21 to August 8 , Anderson took part in the 2014 G1 Climax , where he finished third in his block with a record of five wins and five losses . On September 21 at Destruction in Kobe , Anderson and Gallows made their sixth successful title defense against Chaos ' Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi - Hashi . Two days later at Destruction in Okayama , Anderson unsuccessfully challenged Okada for his IWGP Heavyweight Championship number one contender ' s contract . In December , Anderson and Gallows made it to the finals of the 2014 World Tag League , after winning their block with a record of five wins and two losses . On December 7 , Anderson and Gallows were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata . Anderson and Gallows ' year - long reign as the IWGP Tag Team Champions came to an end on January 4 , 2015 , at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome , where they were defeated by Goto and Shibata . Anderson and Gallows regained the title from Goto and Shibata on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka . They lost the title to The Kingdom ( Matt Taven and Michael Bennett ) on April 5 at Invasion Attack 2015 . Global Force Wrestling ( 2015 ) . On May 6 , 2015 , Global Force Wrestling ( GFW ) announced Anderson as part of their roster . Anderson and Doc Gallows main evented the first - ever GFW show on June 12 , defeating the New Heavenly Bodies ( Dustin and Justin ) in a tag team match . WWE ( 2016 – present ) . Anderson and Doc Gallows were both backstage during the April 4 , 2016 , tapings of " Monday Night Raw " indicating that they had signed with WWE . they then debuted by attacking Jimmy and Jey Uso in the ring following the Usos win over The Social Outcasts . Personal life . Allegra is married and has two sons , named Caedon and Cylus . The family lives in Cincinnati , Ohio . Allegra is close friends with Fergal Devitt and Shinsuke Nakamura , both of whom he first met at the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo in Los Angeles .