WWE Raw: The Club need AJ Styles, but not vice versa

Last Monday night on Raw saw the somewhat anticipated return of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to WWE television, joined by none other than their Club bud, AJ Styles.

AJ Styles himself has missed the past few weeks of WWE TV to recover from an AC joint injury, although he is expected to return to in-ring action next week. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, however, have been M.I.A. from television for a little longer. In fact, before losing to The Usos on the last episode of Raw, they hadn’t been featured prominently on the main roster in several months; sans a few multi-man battle royal cluster matches and 24/7 Title shenanigans.

It seems as though Gallows and Anderson have been missing TV simply because WWE don’t have any plans or ideas for them right now. Which is a shame, because when they first debuted for WWE back in 2016, they had a wealth of potential. Particularly in their run alongside AJ Styles as part of The Club, they dominated to the point that they walked into WrestleMania with tag team gold around their waist.

Unfortunately, that might have been the last time that either Gallows or Anderson were relevant on WWE’s main roster.

Gallows and Anderson entered WWE with the momentum and clout of being multiple time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Their brief stable run with AJ Styles as The Club helped elevate both men in the eyes of fans who weren’t familiar with their NJPW. Before AJ Styles jumped to SmackDown Live as part of the reintroduced brand split, Anderson and Gallows spent the summer in high profile feuds with the likes of John Cena.

Without Styles by their side, all of that momentum was gone within a year’s time. Gallows and Anderson started losing matches left and right and before we knew it, they were missing television time altogether regularly.

Clearly, Styles’ presence around that group did a lot of good for the Good Brothers. Judging by their pre-match and post-match promos with AJ Styles, WWE may be trying to rekindle and rub some Phenomenal shine back onto Gallows and Anderson, who desperately need it right now. The problem is that AJ Styles himself does not need them. He never needed them.

In the time that Styles has been away from those Good Brothers, he won two WWE Championships (one reign in which is regarded as one of the longest in the title’s history) and right before he was injured, his last PPV saw him in a World Title match. Styles is doing great onscreen, but I can’t help but feel like another run coaching The Club could do more to hurt Styles than help him.

It’ll certainly help Gallows and Anderson, for sure. It’s already helped them by getting them an angle on television for the first time in ages. But just as Styles could brush some good vibes onto them, they could brush some bad vibes onto him. While he makes them look strong, I’m worried that associating with a tag team who struggles to lose matches could look more like a setback for the main eventer.

I don’t think Styles is in need of a heel turn, nor does he need to settle in a managerial role. Whether he’s wrestling or not, he doesn’t need two pieces of muscle by his side. As the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” No need to reinvent Styles’ wheel just to help tune up Gallows and Anderson when The Phenomenal One is still as over as ever on his own. Personally, I would rather see Styles feud with Gallows and Anderson than re-join The Club, but that’s just me.

With that said, if Styles truly wants to spend his last days as a wrestler elevating his Good Brothers (he did say that he just wants to “go out there and entertain” without focusing on championships before his final contract runs out), then more power to him. If we only have a few more years left of Styles wrestling, then I want him to spend his last days being happy and entertaining.

Hopefully, he can produce something entertaining with Gallows and Anderson if WWE continue to go that route.