The Good Brothers: A Comprehensive History of the Celebrated Wrestling Tag Team

The Good Brothers, comprised of Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, are a renowned American professional wrestling tag team. Their journey spans across multiple major promotions, including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), WWE, and Impact Wrestling, marking them as one of the most successful tag teams in modern wrestling.

The Good Brothers have achieved significant success as a tag team, capturing multiple tag team championships across major and independent promotions.

The Good Brothers
The Good Brothers in action.

Early Years and Formation in NJPW

The Good Brothers, consisting of Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, were first put together in 2013 as part of the Bullet Club stable, they worked in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

On November 11, 2013, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) announced the participating teams in the 2013 World Tag League. Included was a team representing the Bullet Club stable, made up of founding member Karl Anderson and the debuting Doc Gallows.

Anderson had been working for NJPW regularly since 2008, while Gallows, a former WWE performer, had most recently worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). The two ended up winning their block with a record of four wins and two losses, and on December 8, first defeated Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma in the semifinals and then Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima in the finals to win the tournament.

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This led to a match on January 4, 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, where they defeated K.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

Entering 2014, Gallows and Anderson capitalized on their momentum at Wrestle Kingdom 8 on January 4, defeating reigning champions K.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Anderson and Gallows ended up holding the title for a full year, successfully defending it six times.

Following the end of their first IWGP Tag Team Championship reign on January 4, 2015, at Wrestle Kingdom 9, where they lost to Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata, Gallows and Anderson quickly regained the titles on February 11, 2015, at The New Beginning in Osaka by defeating the same opponents.

Their second reign lasted until April 5, 2015, at Invasion Attack, when they were dethroned by The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Michael Bennett). Later that year, on July 5, 2015, at Dominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall, they captured the championship for the third time by defeating The Kingdom, holding it for 183 days until losing it on January 4, 2016, at Wrestle Kingdom 10 to Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma.

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In NJPW, the Good Brothers won the IWGP Tag Team Championship three times between 2014 and 2016. Their first reign lasted 365 days, from January 4, 2014, to January 4, 2015. The second reign was 53 days long, from February 11, 2015, to April 5, 2015.

In February 2016, the two left NJPW to sign with WWE.

Bullet Club
The Good Brothers with Bullet Club.

Ring of Honor and Independent Circuit

The Good Brothers, consisting of Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, began their expansion into the United States market in 2014 through collaborative events between Ring of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

Over the next two years, the Good Brothers made recurring appearances in ROH primarily via NJPW crossover shows, including Global Wars in 2014 and 2015, as well as War of the Worlds events in 2015 and 2016.

Anderson and Gallows made their debut for American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion on May 17, 2014, during the War of the Worlds event, which was co-produced by ROH and NJPW, successfully defending the IWGP Tag Team Championship against The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe).

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On December 20, 2014, Anderson and Gallows made their debut as a tag team on the American independent circuit, defeating Reality Check (Craven Varro and Devon Moore) at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event.

On December 20, 2014, they made their American indie team debut at Pro Wrestling Showcase's Fight-Mare Before Christmas 2014 event in Wayne, New Jersey, defeating Reality Check (Craven Varro and Devon Moore) in a non-title match.

During the summer of 2015, the two worked several Global Force Wrestling (GFW) events, where they took part in the GFW Tag Team Championship tournament. In October 2015, Anderson and Gallows took part in a Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) event in Reading, England, which also featured several other NJPW wrestlers.

WWE Career (2016-2020)

In February 2016, the two left NJPW to sign with WWE as Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, where they became two-time Raw Tag Team Champions, and the winners of the WWE Tag Team World Cup.

The Club
The Club in WWE.

On the April 11, 2016, episode of Raw, Anderson and Gallows (who returned to his Luke Gallows ring name) made their debut for WWE, attacking The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso), establishing themselves as heels in the process and with the duo's NJPW background being acknowledged by WWE announcers.

Shortly after, on the April 18 episode of Raw, AJ Styles-another recent WWE signee and former Bullet Club leader-intervened to align with Gallows and Anderson, officially reforming The Club as a dominant trio.

On the following week's Raw, WWE began teasing an alliance between Anderson and Gallows and their former Bullet Club stablemate AJ Styles when, after meeting Styles in a backstage interview, Anderson and Gallows attacked his Payback opponent Roman Reigns in the ring; Styles, however, did not seem pleased with the attack. Anderson and Gallows wrestled their first WWE match on the April 25 Raw, defeating The Usos.

On the May 9 Raw, the trio of Anderson, Gallows and Styles was dubbed "The Club". The Club disbanded two weeks later on Raw, when Styles stated that he wanted an amicable separation from Anderson and Gallows, blaming them and The Usos for his failure to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the previous day's Extreme Rules. Though Styles stated that the three could remain "brothers", Anderson and Gallows refused and ended the friendship altogether.

On the May 30 Raw, Anderson and Gallows entered the WWE Tag Team Championship picture by attacking reigning champions The New Day, while later in the show, Styles turned on the returning John Cena and reunited with Anderson and Gallows.

Afterwards, Gallows and Anderson continued feuding with The New Day, attacking and sidelining Big E on the August 1 Raw, which led to the other two New Day members, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, agreeing to defend the WWE Tag Team Championship against them.

The title match on August 21 at SummerSlam ended in a disqualification win for Gallows and Anderson, when Anderson was attacked by the returning Big E.

On the November 7 Raw, Gallows and Anderson were announced as part of Team Raw for the 10-on-10 Survivor Series tag team elimination match at Survivor Series on November 20, 2016. The same night, while being at odds with the rest of Team Raw, they defeated The New Day in a non-title bout.

Gallows and Anderson were eliminated from the Survivor Series match by Rhyno, one half of the reigning WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions.

On January 29, 2017, at the Royal Rumble Kickoff pre-show in San Antonio, Texas, Gallows and Anderson captured their first WWE championship by defeating Cesaro and Sheamus to win the Raw Tag Team Championship in a 12-minute match, ending the challengers' 107-day reign.

In WWE, they captured the Raw Tag Team Championship twice. The first reign began on January 29, 2017, and lasted 63 days until April 2, 2017.

They retained the titles in a rematch against Cesaro and Sheamus on the February 6 episode of Raw via pinfall after Anderson's Gun Stun finisher.

On the July 1, 2019, episode of Raw, AJ Styles turned heel following his loss to United States Champion Ricochet by viciously attacking the champion with a steel chair after the match.

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, formerly part of The Club alongside Styles, then emerged to join in the assault and celebrate with him, effectively reuniting the group under its original Bullet Club-inspired name.

The faction solidified its presence on the July 22 episode of Raw during the Raw Reunion special, where Styles, Gallows, and Anderson rebranded themselves as The O.C., short for "The Original Club," emphasizing their roots in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Bullet Club.

The group quickly targeted top competition, leading to a high-profile triple threat tag team match on the July 29 episode of Raw against The Revival and The Usos.

On April 15, 2020, WWE released Gallows and Anderson as part of widespread budget cuts amid the pandemic's financial strain on the company.

The O.C. disbanded shortly thereafter, with Styles remaining on the roster as a solo act.

Impact Wrestling (2020-2022)

In 2020, the two were released from WWE as part of budget cuts relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, and joined Impact Wrestling, upon which the once-informal moniker of "The Good Brothers" became their official team name, and winning three Impact World Tag Team Championships during their tenure there.

Gallows and Anderson debuted in Impact Wrestling at Slammiversary on July 18, 2020 now using the team name of The Good Brothers.

The Good Brothers are three-time Impact World Tag Team Champions. Their first reign was 119 days long, from November 14, 2020, to March 13, 2021-the shortest of their Impact reigns. The second reign lasted 231 days, from July 17, 2021, to March 5, 2022.

At Slammiversary, The Good Brothers defeated Rich Swann and Willie Mack, Fallah Bahh and No Way, and champions Violent By Design (Joe Doering and Rhino) in a four-way tag team match to win the Impact World Tag Team Championship for the second time.

They retained their title against Swann and Mack, and Violent By Design in a three-way tag team match at Emergence, and against FinJuice and Bullet Club (Chris Bey and Hikuleo) at Bound for Glory in another three-way tag team match.

On the February 19, 2022 at No Surrender, The Good Brothers rejoined the Bullet Club.

The Good Brothers regained the Impact tag team titles on June 19, 2022 by defeating The Briscoe Brothers.

Return to NJPW (2021-2023)

During 2021, the Good Brothers made several appearances in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as part of a crossover arrangement between AEW and Impact Wrestling, where they were contracted.

While maintaining their primary base with Impact Wrestling, the Good Brothers returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in July 2021 for the launch of the NJPW Strong brand in the United States.

From 2022 to 2023, the duo balanced ongoing Impact obligations with periodic NJPW tours, focusing on the Strong brand and occasional main roster events while avoiding full-time commitment. They competed in multiple Strong tapings, including multi-man tags and title challengers, often invoking their Bullet Club history without formal reintegration into the faction's current lineup.

Their involvement included teases for crossovers at events like Forbidden Door in June 2022, where Bullet Club storylines intersected AEW and NJPW narratives, though they did not compete.

On June 19, it was announced that Anderson and Gallows, dubbed as "The Good Brothers", would their return to the promotion after five years in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America brand at Strong's Tag Team Turbulence Tournament.

A day later, it was announced that they were going to take part of NJPW's return event Resurgence. After Jon Moxley defended the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Yuji Nagata, Karl Anderson cut a promo challenging Moxley for match for his title in which Moxley later accepted the challenge with their match taking place on All Elite Wrestling's Fyter Fest television special.

On July 14, 2021 at Fyter Fest, Anderson unsuccessfully challenged Moxley for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. From July 16 until July 30, Anderson and Gallows took part in the Tag Team Turbulence, where they won after defeating Violence Unlimited (Brody King and Chris Dickinson).

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