WWE Hinting at AJ Styles Alliance with New Bullet Club
As the first ripples of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson's debuts on Raw were still being felt, it was hard to not glance further down the line and wonder what lies in their future.
Although a run in the tag team division would be great for them and the other teams in WWE, it may not be enough given their significant reputation as well as their power and promise.
This could well involve what could be WWE's biggest feud over the next few months—AJ Styles vs. Roman Reigns.
While WWE very rarely reminds us that wrestlers have had extensive and enjoyable careers in other promotions, the history of Bullet Club as a faction should lead to an obvious and exciting angle for the company with Styles and its two newest faces.
In April 2014, when Prince Devitt left the group to sign with WWE and become Finn Balor, New Japan Pro Wrestling opted for Styles to become the new leader of the group.
Who else was in Bullet Club at that time? Gallows and Anderson, of course.
Obviously, WWE will have to work out a new name for the group, as Bullet Club is still active in NJPW, but whether it's Balor Club—if Finn steps up in the coming weeks or months—or something else, there's a brand-new stable waiting to be formed.
And when Gallows and Anderson debuted on Raw, it is surely no coincidence that they attacked The Usos. After all, they could have had their pick of babyface teams to take down—WWE is not short on them—but they went after Reigns' cousins.
WWE is hinting at a fair bit of depth to the Styles-vs.-Reigns storyline if that's anything to go by.
Gallows and Anderson may go after Reigns' "brother," Dean Ambrose, next in an unprovoked and unexplained attack.
It would look like Gallows and Anderson were exerting their power by taking down anyone they want at any time. But actually, they'd be weakening Reigns ahead of his Payback match with Styles so that AJ can get the upper hand.
Imagine if Payback rolls around, and Gallows and Anderson help Styles do the unthinkable—become the WWE world heavyweight champion—lifting him aloft to close Payback.
The obvious drawback to that is Styles would probably have to turn heel, or so you would think. In this era of reality becoming the norm,tweeners are fast becoming a staple of WWE television. The New Day is hardly a babyface or heel stable, as the crowd reaction to it has been so mixed.
Reigns himself is now the very definition of a tweener, so why can't a new faction come together with Styles at the head, setting up a tweener-vs.-tweener storyline? The fans could simply choose whom they want to root for—and most of them would still pick Styles.
The beauty of all this? Ambrose could work through a feud with Chris Jericho, and as Reigns continues to get beaten by the numbers game of this faction, he joins up with his "brother."
They still wouldn't get the job done, and as Styles, Gallows and Anderson become more evil, more underhanded and more controversial with their victories, Reigns and Ambrose get some help at long last.
Cue Seth Rollins, cue The Shield and cue WWE's version of Bullet Club against The Shield. That would be explosive and simply unmissable.
As the first ripples of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson's debuts on Raw were still being felt, it was hard to not glance further down the line and wonder what lies in their future.
Although a run in the tag team division would be great for them and the other teams in WWE, it may not be enough given their significant reputation as well as their power and promise.
This could well involve what could be WWE's biggest feud over the next few months—AJ Styles vs. Roman Reigns.
While WWE very rarely reminds us that wrestlers have had extensive and enjoyable careers in other promotions, the history of Bullet Club as a faction should lead to an obvious and exciting angle for the company with Styles and its two newest faces.
In April 2014, when Prince Devitt left the group to sign with WWE and become Finn Balor, New Japan Pro Wrestling opted for Styles to become the new leader of the group.
Who else was in Bullet Club at that time? Gallows and Anderson, of course.
Obviously, WWE will have to work out a new name for the group, as Bullet Club is still active in NJPW, but whether it's Balor Club—if Finn steps up in the coming weeks or months—or something else, there's a brand-new stable waiting to be formed.
And when Gallows and Anderson debuted on Raw, it is surely no coincidence that they attacked The Usos. After all, they could have had their pick of babyface teams to take down—WWE is not short on them—but they went after Reigns' cousins.
WWE is hinting at a fair bit of depth to the Styles-vs.-Reigns storyline if that's anything to go by.
Gallows and Anderson may go after Reigns' "brother," Dean Ambrose, next in an unprovoked and unexplained attack.
It would look like Gallows and Anderson were exerting their power by taking down anyone they want at any time. But actually, they'd be weakening Reigns ahead of his Payback match with Styles so that AJ can get the upper hand.
Imagine if Payback rolls around, and Gallows and Anderson help Styles do the unthinkable—become the WWE world heavyweight champion—lifting him aloft to close Payback.
The obvious drawback to that is Styles would probably have to turn heel, or so you would think. In this era of reality becoming the norm,tweeners are fast becoming a staple of WWE television. The New Day is hardly a babyface or heel stable, as the crowd reaction to it has been so mixed.
Reigns himself is now the very definition of a tweener, so why can't a new faction come together with Styles at the head, setting up a tweener-vs.-tweener storyline? The fans could simply choose whom they want to root for—and most of them would still pick Styles.
The beauty of all this? Ambrose could work through a feud with Chris Jericho, and as Reigns continues to get beaten by the numbers game of this faction, he joins up with his "brother."
They still wouldn't get the job done, and as Styles, Gallows and Anderson become more evil, more underhanded and more controversial with their victories, Reigns and Ambrose get some help at long last.
Cue Seth Rollins, cue The Shield and cue WWE's version of Bullet Club against The Shield. That would be explosive and simply unmissable.
