Luke Gallows

Early career (2005)

Hankinson began his career in West Virginia with Mason Dixon Wrestling and in Pennsylvania with the World Star Wrestling Federation (AWA/World Star Wrestling), Summit Wrestling Association of Southern Pennsylvania, and Maryland-based promotions National Wrestling League and the Eastern Wrestling All xndndnnce, wrestling as Dorian Deville, and for West Virginia's Championship Pro Wrestling as the masked wrestler, Dargon.

Deep South Wrestling (2005–2007)

In April 2005, despite failing to make it as one of the final ten contestants on the $1,000,000 Tough Enough, he was signed to a contract by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to the Deep South Wrestling (DSW) developmental territory.

Hankinson wrestled in DSW as Deacon Deville before changing his ring name to The Freakin' Deacon, adopting the gimmick of a deranged, facepaint-wearing wrestler who came to the ring with a pet spider named Willow and sometimes spoke to it. He formed a partnership with Palmer Cannon and his posterior associate Dalip Singh, helping Cannon to gain DSW's ownership and attack his enemies, but Palmer and Singh ended betraying Deacon and stealing his spider. He then formed an alliance with announcer and wrestler Bill DeMott, who was in a feud against The Gymini. The team proved to be stable, but Deacon abandoned DeMott during a match, causing him to be beaten down until other wrestlers made the save. It was later revealed that Quintin Michaels had got Willow and used it to blackmail Deacon, but he later got his pet back, regaining his freedom.

Main roster debut (2006–2007)

On May 29, 2006, Hankinson debuted on Raw as an impostor Kane; wearing Kane's old mask and ring attire, he chokeslammed Kane during his match against Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Championship. Subsequently, Hankinson would repeatedly attack the real Kane during or after his matches. The pair finally faced off in a match at the Vengeance pay-per-view, with Hankinson winning using one of Kane's trademark moves. One night later, however, the storyline was abruptly ended when the original Kane attacked the Impostor Kane, removed his mask, and threw him out of the building.

Hankinson returned to Deep South Wrestling, in addition to appearing at SmackDown! house shows. In August, he got involved in a storyline with The Bag Lady, who acted as his valet and love interest. Though he often was distracted by her, she often helped him to win matches. In October, Deacon and Bag Lady formed an alliance with The Major Brothers (Brian and Brett) against the team Urban Assault (Eric Perez, Sonny Siaki, Afa Jr. and G-Rilla), as their enforcer G-Rilla had clashed with Bag Lady. In December 2006, Deacon defeated G-Rilla in a singles match, causing the rest of Urban Assault to turn on him and beat him up. Deacon then aided G-Rilla and formed a tag team with him, helping him to get revenge on Urban Assault and later feuding with Team Elite (Derrick Neikirk and Mike Knox) for the DSW Tag Team Championship. However, in March 2007 Deacon was beaten up with steel chairs by Neikirk and Knox, needing to be carried to the hospital by G-Rilla. There G-Rilla sat accidentally over Willow, killing the spider and sending its owner to a mental breakdown.

Teaming with Jesse (2007–2009)

On the May 11, 2007, episode of SmackDown!, a vignette aired suggesting that Hankinson would be repackaged as Festus Dalton as part of a tag team using a Southern gimmick, alongside fellow WWE developmental talent Ray Gordy. On June 2, 2007, however, it was reported that WWE was dropping the "Dalton Boys" gimmick. The explanation for them not showing up on SmackDown was that they got lost on their way to the arena. Hankinson and Gordy had actually been sent back to OVW, where Hankinson changed his name to "Justice Dalton".

Hankinson was then renamed "Festus" while Gordy was dubbed "Jesse", and on the June 29, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, vignettes hyping Jesse and Festus began to air. For weeks, Jesse would be presented as the mouth-piece of the tandem, who was in awe of his tag team partner. Hankinson, however, played a character that was mentally challenged and unresponsive. In spite of Festus' dimwitted nature, Jesse kept claiming that Festus was an emotionally driven and physically unstoppable giant. On the September 7, 2007 edition of SmackDown!, there was a segment featuring Jesse and Festus now actually in the arena rather than in a studio. On October 5, Hankinson won his debut match on SmackDown! with Jesse. When the opening bell rang, Festus' personality changed into a very focused and angry competitor as compared to the mentally challenged character he had portrayed. When the bell rang to signify the end of the match, Festus returned to his docile self. On the December 21 episode of SmackDown!, Festus defeated Deuce in a Santa Match, with both of them wearing Santa Claus outfits. On the January 25 episode of SmackDown!, Jesse explained the reason that they had not been on television was because Festus has been seeing doctors about his "problems".

In 2008, before the bell rang, Jesse explained that Festus had changed. However, Festus did not change and continued to make a determined and monstrous face after the bell had rung. On the March 21 episode of SmackDown, Jesse and Festus had a chance to face John Morrison and The Miz for the WWE Tag Team Championship, although Morrison and The Miz retained their titles. Festus received his first loss when he wrestled against World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker on the April 11 episode of SmackDown!, after passing out while in the Hell's Gate.

On April 15, 2009, Festus was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft and, as a result, was separated from his tag team partner Jesse, who remained on SmackDown.

The Straight Edge Society (2009–2010)

After a three-month hiatus from television, Hankinson returned on the November 27, 2009 edition of SmackDown!, repackaged as a villain under the name Luke Gallows, sporting a new attire with a goatee, shaved head, and having lost a considerable amount of weight. After accompanying CM Punk to the ring for his match with Matt Hardy, Punk revealed that Gallows was actually Festus' true identity and claimed that Gallows' family and friends enabled his alcoholic inclination, which led to the mental state he was in as Festus, before stating that Gallows was cured due to Punk showing him the straight edge lifestyle. On the December 11 episode of SmackDown!, Gallows made his re-debut as he and Punk defeated Hardy and R-Truth, after Gallows pinned Hardy with his new finishing move, the Twelfth Step. On the January 8, 2010 episode of SmackDown, Gallows defeated Hardy in his re-debut singles match. The next week, Gallows and Punk defeated Matt Hardy and The Great Khali, The Hart Dynasty, and Cryme Tyme in a fatal four-way match to become the number one contenders for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship.

On the February 10, 2010 episode of Raw, The Straight Edge Society was eliminated in a Triple Threat Elimination Tag Match between them, The Miz and Big Show and DX for the Unified Tag Team Championship. The Miz and The Big Show became the new Unified Tag Team Champions. At WrestleMania XXVI Luke Gallows competed in a dark 30-man battle royal to open Wrestlemania which was won by Yoshi Tatsu. On the April 13 episode of NXT, he challenged CM Punk's rookie Darren Young and the stipulation, if Young loses, he will have to surrender his hair to Punk and have it shaved bald. Gallows came close to getting the victory when Young came up with a roll-up and saved his hair, with Punk showing some favor to his rookie and Gallows seeming unhappy. At Extreme Rules, during Punk's Hair match against Rey Mysterio, Gallows and Serena helped Punk throughout the match until they were banned from ringside.

On the July 2 tapings of SmackDown, after a match between Luke Gallows and Kane, a security video was shown by Serena of her being caught drinking in a bar by Punk on the same day of The Undertaker's attack proving The Straight Edge Society's innocence in order to save Punk. Serena begged for forgiveness even after Punk warned her not to, but the Straight Edge Society simply left without her. The following week, however, Serena was forgiven by Punk for her actions, as they embraced, but Gallows did not approve. The following week Gallows was set to fight Big Show but gave the match to the SES Masked Man, who was unmasked as Joey Mercury during the match. On the September 3 episode of SmackDown, Gallows and Punk faced The Big Show in a two-on-one handicap match, which Gallows and Punk lost. After the match Punk delivered the GTS on Gallows.

On the September 16 episode of WWE Superstars, before a match with MVP, Gallows cut a promo announcing that he was no longer part of the Society by proclaiming he was his own man. Gallows went on to lose the match. On the September 21 taping of SmackDown, Gallows began a slow face turn when he confronted CM Punk in a backstage segment stating that after defeating him, he would have a beer, but lost a match to Punk later in the night.

Gallows, now officially established as a face, defeated Vance Archer on the November 4 airing of Superstars. His final TV appearance was during a backstage segment in which Kane was looking for his father, on the November 19, episode of SmackDown. Hankinson was released from his WWE contract on the same day, along with several other superstars.

Independent circuit (2010–2016)

Hankinson wrestled on December 3, 2010 as "Keith Hanson", at an Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) event, where he defeated The Predator. On January 29, 2011, he lost to ECW Original Tommy Dreamer in a hardcore match at a National Wrestling Superstars (NWS) event in New Jersey. On March 25, 2011, Hankinson, working as Luke Gallows, made an appearance for the Japanese Apache Pro-Wrestling Army promotion, defeating Makoto Hashi. On May 29, 2011, Gallows debuted for NWA Rampage in Warner Robins, Georgia. Gallows defeated former Ring of Honor and TNA star by DQ after Rave's group, Jimmy Rave Approved, interfered. Afterwards an 8-man tag took place in which Gallows teamed with Kyle Matthews, J-Rod, & Frankie Valentine to defeat Rave, Sal Rinauro, Chip Day and Corey Hollis. On June 5 Gallows returned to NWA Rampage and lost to Heavyweight Champion Bull Buchanan. In August 2011, Hankinson and Cliff Compton traveled to wrestle in Nigeria. He was defeated by The Great Power Uti of Nigeria who took his belt.

Hankinson appeared on the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012, where he wrestled under the name Luke Gallow (using his heel S.E.S. gimmick) in a losing effort to Rhyno. He also appeared at Wrestlerama in Georgetown, Guyana. On October 6, 2012, he was defeated by Scott Steiner in the House of Hardcore's first show. On September 22, 2012 Luke Gallows would debut for Dynamite Championship Wrestling at their Annual Breast Cancer Benefit Event. He won the American Pro Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship in 2012 with Knux, but they were later stripped of the titles, as they were made inactive, on March 1, 2013. From June 3 to 13, 2012, Hankinson, as Luke Gallows, worked a tour with the Japanese Pro Wrestling Noah promotion, during which he often teamed with Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong. He appeared for Pro Wrestling Syndicate on May 18, 2013, along with Knux and D'Lo Brown. Hankinson made his last independent appearance on January 16 billed as Luke Gallows when he unsuccessfully challenged Chris Nelms in a Fatal 4-Way match for WrestleMerica Brass Knuckles Championship.

On May 6, 2015, Global Force Wrestling (GFW) announced Gallows as part of their roster. Gallows and Karl Anderson main evented the first-ever GFW show on June 12, defeating the New Heavenly Bodies (Dustin and Justin) in a tag team match.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2011–2013)

On June 14, 2011, Hankinson wrestled a tryout dark match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), in which he was defeated by Gunner. In December 2011, Hankinson took part in TNA's India project, Ring Ka King, under the ring name "The Outlaw" Isaiah Cash. On June 21, 2012, Hankinson wrestled another tryout dark match for TNA.

Hankinson began working TNA house shows as a masked member of the Aces & Eights stable in September 2012. On September 4, Hankinson confirmed that he had signed a contract with the promotion. Hankinson was unmasked and revealed as a member of the Aces & Eights on the November 1 episode of Impact Wrestling. The following week, Hankinson, billed as D.O.C., Director of Chaos, teamed with stablemate Devon in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Kurt Angle and Sting via disqualification. Having been told to show why he deserved a spot in Aces & Eights, D.O.C. afterwards put Sting through a table, before beating him with a ball-peen hammer. DOC made his TNA pay-per-view debut three days later at Turning Point, defeating Joseph Park in a singles match. On the December 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, D.O.C. faced Kurt Angle which ended By DQ when Aces & Eights attacked Angle.

On December 9 at Final Resolution, D.O.C. teamed with Devon and two masked members of Aces & Eights in a losing effort to Kurt Angle, Garett Bischoff, Samoa Joe, and Wes Brisco. On January 13, 2013, at Genesis, D.O.C. was defeated by Sting in a singles match. On the February 7 episode of Impact Wrestling, D.O.C. and Devon were defeated by Bully Ray and Sting in a Tables match. On the February 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Aces & Eights, consisting of D.O.C., Devon and Mr. Anderson defeated Sting, Hulk Hogan and Bully Ray in a six man tag team match after they took Hogan out before the match, On March 10 at Lockdown, Aces & Eights, consisting of D.O.C., Devon, Garett Bischoff, Knux, and Mr. Anderson were defeated by Team TNA, consisting of Eric Young, James Storm, Magnus, Samoa Joe, and Sting in a Lethal Lockdown match.on March 12 edition of TNA Xplosion, D.O.C. lost a match to James Storm after giving him a lowblow. At World Cup of Wrestling, D.O.C. apart of Team Aces & Eights started off when D.O.C and Knux defeated Team International's Funaki and Petey Williams later that night Team Aces & Eights lost a Five-on-Five Elimination Tag Team match against Team USA (Christopher Daniels, James Storm, Kazarian, Kenny King and Mickie James) failing to win the cup. on the April 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, Aces and 8s (D.O.C., Devon, Knux, Wes Brisco and Garett Bischoff) defeated Kurt Angle, Eric Young, Samoa Joe, Magnus and Joseph Park in a ten man tag team match. On the May 9th edition of Impact Wrestling, D.O.C. lost a match to Magnus. On the June 13th edition of Impact Wrestling, D.O.C. participated in an Aces & Eights battle royal match for a spot in the 2013 Bound for Glory Series, but ended up being thrown out by Mr. Anderson after refusing to get out of the ring, though not turning face. On the July 11 episode of Impact Wrestling,, D.O.C. lost his bid to become the vice president of Aces and Eights as Knux gave his deciding vote to Mr. Anderson, to D.O.C.'s disgust. On July 12, Hankinson's contract expired. Four days later, he announced he and TNA had officially parted ways. His departure was explained on screen as having turned in his kutte after losing the bid of Vice President to Mr. Anderson.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2013–2016)

On November 11, 2013, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced Hankinson as a participant in the 2013 World Tag League, where he would be teaming with Karl Anderson as part of Bullet Club. Doc Gallows made his New Japan debut on November 23, when he and Anderson defeated Bushi and Kota Ibushi in a non-tournament match, with Gallows pinning Bushi for the win. In the round-robin portion of the tournament, which ran from November 24 to December 7, Gallows and Anderson finished with a record of four wins and two losses, winning their block and advancing to the semifinals. On December 8, Gallows and Anderson first defeated G.B.H. (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) in the semifinals and then Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) in the finals to win the 2013 World Tag League and earn a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Gallows returned to New Japan on January 4, 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, where he and Anderson defeated K.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith, Jr. and Lance Archer) to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions.

Gallows and Anderson 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. Gallows and Anderson's third successful defense took place just seven days later, during New Japan's trip to Taiwan, when they defeated Hirooki Goto and Captain Taiwan. On May 17, Gallows and Anderson made their fourth successful title defense against The Briscoes (Jay and Mark) at a NJPW and Ring of Honor (ROH) co-produced event, War of the Worlds, in New York City. On June 21 at Dominion 6.21, Gallows and Anderson made their fifth successful defense against Ace to King (Hiroshi Tanahashi and Togi Makabe). From July 21 to August 8, Gallows took part in the 2014 G1 Climax, where he finished ninth out of the eleven wrestlers in his block with a record of four wins and six losses. On September 21 at Destruction in Kobe, Gallows and Anderson made their sixth successful title defense against Kazuchika Okada and Yoshi-Hashi. In December, Gallows and Anderson 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, Gallows and Anderson were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata. Gallows and Anderson's 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.

Gallows and Anderson 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. They regained the title from The Kingdom on July 5 at Dominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall. From July 20 to August 14, Gallows took part in the 2015 G1 Climax, where he finished last in his block with a record of three wins and six losses. On January 4, 2016, at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome, Gallows and Anderson lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma. Hours after the event, it was reported that both Gallows and Anderson had given their notice to NJPW on the morning of January 4, announcing that they were leaving the promotion for WWE. TNA later claimed that Gallows had agreed to return to the promotion, along with Anderson and AJ Styles, before the trio broke off communication with TNA over the Christmas holiday. Though not under contract, Gallows was expected to honor previously booked dates through February. On February 14 at The New Beginning in Niigata, Gallows and Anderson received a rematch for the IWGP Tag Team Championship, but were again defeated by Makabe and Honma. On February 20, Gallows and Anderson wrestled their final NJPW match, where they teamed with Bullet Club stablemates Bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga, losing to Bobby Fish, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata, and Kyle O'Reilly in an eight-man tag team match.

Return to WWE (2016–present)

On the April 11 episode of Raw, Gallows and Anderson (with Gallows returning to his former WWE ring name, Luke Gallows) made their debut, attacking The Usos after their victory over The Social Outcasts, before being removed by several referees. On the April 18 episode of Raw, Anderson and Gallows attacked WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, following Reigns' promo with AJ Styles. The following week on Raw, Anderson and Gallows would make their in-ring debuts, defeating the Usos. During this time, Anderson and Gallows would help Styles in his feud with Reigns, with Styles at first reluctant for their help, until the May 2 episode of Raw, when Styles teamed with Anderson and Gallows, where they began being known as The Club, defeating Reigns and the Usos. On the May 9 episode of Raw, The Club would face Reigns and the Usos in a 6-man Elimination match, where, following the elimination of both Gallows and Anderson, Reigns and the Usos would win by disqualification after Gallows and Anderson attacked Reigns with a steel chair. At Extreme Rules, Anderson and Gallows would interfere in Reigns' and Styles' Extreme Rules match for Reigns' WWE World Heavyweight Championship. They would attack Reigns until the Usos, who lost their Tornado Tag Team match to Anderson and Gallows earlier in the night, brawled with the two until Reigns would retain. The following night on Raw, Styles requested to leave The Club, stating that the WWE "wasn't Japan". Anderson and Gallows left Styles shortly after Styles would lose to Kevin Owens in a Money in the Bank qualifying match. On the May 30 episode of Raw, AJ Styles would confront a returning John Cena who said the "new era" would have to go through him, before offering Styles his hand. Styles shook his hand, shortly before Anderson and Gallows would interrupt. As Styles and Cena appeared ready to fight Anderson and Gallows, Styles instead beat down Cena repeatedly, reuniting The Club and cementing a heel turn.

In the 2016 WWE draft, Gallows, along with Anderson, was drafted to Raw, but Styles was drafted to SmackDown, thereby splitting up The Club. Gallows and Anderson resumed feuding with The New Day, and took out Big E with a groin injury after a sneak attack. Following this assault, Gallows and Anderson made fun of the situation by appearing in segments dressed as doctors and claiming to be in need of a cure for "Ringpostitis" leading up to a SummerSlam match for the WWE Tag Team Championship, which they won by disqualification because of show guest Jon Stewart and a returning Big E getting involved. At Clash of Champions, The New Day defeated Gallows and Anderson in a rematch to retain the titles. On the November 7 episode of 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 gained controversy after ripping the head off a Dusty Rhodes bear given to Goldust (son of Dusty) by Bayley. While Goldust's brother and ex-WWE star Cody Rhodes let it slide, Hall of Famer, "Superstar" Superstar Billy Graham found the segment tasteless.

On the January 18, 2017 episode of Raw, Gallows and Anderson appeared to defeat Cesaro and Sheamus by pinfall for the Raw Tag Team Championship; however, due to Sheamus having hit the referee, the decision was reversed to a disqualification, leading to them winning the match but not the title. This led to a rematch with two referees on the Royal Rumble pre-show on January 29, where Gallows and Anderson became the new Raw Tag Team Champions.

Personal life

Hankinson married fellow professional wrestler Amber O'Neal in May 2014. Hankinson has a son from a previous relationship.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments