AJ Styles' former partner sends a message after The Phenomenal One fakes retirement on WWE SmackDown
AJ Styles pulled off one of the biggest swerves of the year on WWE SmackDown as he successfully deceived Cody Rhodes with a fake retirement announcement. Karl Anderson, who was part of the segment, reacted to it with a message on social media.
Karl Anderson and AJ Styles have been close since before their time in WWE. The duo was part of the famous Bullet Club faction in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. They also worked together in the Stamford-based promotion before Styles decided to part ways with The O.C.
Despite their recent differences, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson joined The Phenomenal One in the ring for what many thought was a retirement announcement. However, Styles pulled off 'a Mark Henry' as he lured Cody Rhodes to the ring and brutally attacked him.
Anderson reacted to the interesting turn of events with a post on Instagram, highlighting that no matter the result, the world saw that his bond with Styles was for life.
"Albany, New York saw that no matter what... this is #4Life," he wrote.
Mark Henry commented on AJ Styles faking his retirement on WWE SmackDown
The AJ Styles-Cody Rhodes segment on SmackDown was reminiscent of the famous RAW incident where Mark Henry faked retirement just to attack John Cena.
The World's Strongest Man commented on the duo repeating history on the blue brand, noting that the angle was very well executed.
"I know both of those guys. They thought about it and said, 'Let's do it like Mark did it.' They did the same exact posturing. Even to the point, after the clothesline and beatdown, he did the same posturing of standing over him just like I did. When they went outside to the floor, all bets were off, they did a great job. The execution of it, the camera angles that they took was incredible," said Henry. [H/T: Fightful]
Despite the brutal attack, Cody Rhodes was in action at Saturday's live event, defeating The Phenomenal One in an Undisputed WWE Championship match. The duo is also expected to collide at Clash at the Castle in Glasgow, Scotland.