Luke Gallows

Andrew William Hankinson (born December 22, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Luke Gallows.

Hankinson began his career in 2005 and participated in that year's WWE Tough Enough, a contest created by WWE to find new prospects. Despite not winning the competition, he signed a development contract and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling, WWE's farm territory. In 2006, he started a feud with Kane, where Hankinson used Kane's old attire and mask, being called Imposter Kane. They faced each other at Vengeance where Hankinson was victorious. He was repackaged as Festus, a quiet man who turns insane when the bell rings. He teamed with Jesse for almost two years before the two were split. Following this, he went on a brief hiatus from television before reappearing as Luke Gallows, the enforcer and "disciple" of CM Punk in the Straight Edge Society. His first run ended in 2010.

After leaving WWE, he signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2011, where he became member of the villainous stable Aces & Eights under the ring name D.O.C. (Director of Chaos). He was fired in 2013 and then signed a contract with the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Doc Gallows. He made his debut in the 2013 World Tag League as the partner of Karl Anderson, joining the Bullet Club faction. Gallows and Anderson won the Tag League and, during the following three years, they won the IWGP Tag Team Championship three times.

Gallows and Anderson would leave NJPW for WWE along with Bullet Club leader AJ Styles in 2016. Again as Luke Gallows, Gallows and Anderson would work as a tag team and, sometimes, as a stable with Styles known as The O.C. (The Original Club). They would win the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship twice, as well as the WWE Tag Team World Cup, a one night tournament between tag teams. They were released in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, three months later, signed a contract with TNA, now called Impact Wrestling, where they won the Impact World Tag Team Championship in November.

Professional wrestling career

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 Alliance, wrestling as Dorian Deville, and for West Virginia's Championship Pro Wrestling as the masked wrestler Dargon. He also played college Football at Fairmont State University.

World Wrestling Entertainment

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 Dorian "Deacon" Deville before changing his ring name to The Freakin' Deacon. He adopted the gimmick of a deranged, facepaint-wearing wrestler who came to the ring with a pet spider named Willow, whom he sometimes spoke to. He formed a partnership with executive Palmer Cannon and his posterior associate Dalip Singh, helping Cannon to gain DSW's ownership and attack his enemies, but Palmer and Singh betrayed Deacon and stole 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 effective, 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 captured Willow and used it to blackmail Deacon into leaving, 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 imposter Kane. Wearing Kane's old mask and ring attire, he chokeslammed Kane during his match against Shelton Benjamin for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Subsequently, Hankinson repeatedly attacked 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 Imposter 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 got often distracted by her, she helped him to win matches. In October, Deacon and Bag Lady formed an alliance with The Major Brothers (