New Japan Pro-Wrestling
The promotion was founded by Antonio Inoki in 1972 after his departure from the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance promotion. The first NJPW event took place on March 6, 1972, in Tokyo. Inoki would serve as the president of the promotion until 1989, when he stepped down to pursue a political career as a member of the Japanese House of Councillors. The promotion was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 1975 to 1985 and once more from 1992 to 1993. NJPW was briefly reaffiliated with the NWA in the late 2000s to the early 2010s as well.
Gallows and Anderson
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. 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. and Lance Archer) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Anderson and Gallows ended up holding the title for a full year, successfully defending it six times. In December 2014, the two made it to the finals of their second consecutive World Tag League, but were defeated there by Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata. who then went on to defeat them for IWGP Tag Team Championship on January 4, 2015, at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome.