"He was really p****d off" - Former WWE Superstar on AJ Styles' reaction to major storyline development
According to Luke Gallows, AJ Styles was “really p****d off” when WWE separated him from The Club in the 2016 draft.
Speaking on the Generation of Wrestling podcast, Gallows reflected on WWE’s decision not to officially reform the Bullet Club with AJ Styles and Finn Balor. He also discussed Styles’ reaction to WWE’s controversial 2016 roster changes.
“They put us with Finn for a little bit on RAW. We weren’t on any show with him very much at all, other than a couple of months on RAW. He was there, we were on SmackDown at one point, I think he was back in NXT. We were with AJ a lot. We did The Club with AJ, and then when they split The Club up they didn’t tell AJ or us. He was really p****d off, and we went to the other show [RAW],” Gallows said.
The Club (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) joined WWE in April 2016 and initially worked alongside AJ Styles on RAW and SmackDown. In July 2016, Gallows and Anderson were selected by RAW in the first WWE draft in five years, while AJ Styles moved to SmackDown.
The trio reunited in July 2019 under the group name The O.C. on RAW. However, the reunion only lasted until April 2020, when Gallows and Anderson received their releases from WWE due to budget cuts.
Luke Gallows on AJ Styles influencing his decision to re-sign with WWE
The TOO-SWEET factor is sky high for this #RAW main event.
#TheOC @AJStylesOrg @LukeGallowsWWE @KarlAndersonWWE https://t.co/7Yj2wzvz5S
AJ Styles is close friends with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in real life. The three men worked together in NJPW and various other promotions during their days as part of the Bullet Club.
Gallows also commented on WWE giving him and Anderson new lucrative contracts in 2019 to fend off interest from AEW.
“Our contracts were up in September of 2019. It was no secret we had buddies over there. We had a very nice offer to go over there. They [WWE] were trying to keep us and make us happy, and AJ wanted us to stay because he wanted to keep his buddies around, you know,” he said.
Gallows revealed in 2020 that he received an apology from AJ Styles after his release from WWE. Styles felt responsible for Gallows and Anderson signing new WWE deals in 2019, as both men only stayed because they wanted to work with him.
Please credit the Generation of Wrestling podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.