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On a recent episode of Monday Night Raw, the “Good Brothers” Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson made a shocking return to WWE. It has been two years since they were last with the promotion, in which time they have made appearances in the likes of AEW, Impact, and NJPW, with a few title reigns here and there too. A return to WWE didn’t seem too likely that long ago, given that they were booked quite poorly the last time round. WWE failed with the pair, and must be careful that they don’t do the exact same thing again, otherwise the next time they leave may very well be the last time.
Karl Anderson And Luke Gallows Were Big Acquisitions Back In 2016
Back in 2016, New Japan Pro Wrestling was experiencing a big boom in popularity, especially amongst overseas fans who had taken notice, particularly since The Bullet Club faction had become so successful and well known. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura were two huge names who made the switch to WWE, in moves which rocked the wrestling world at the time, and the exodus looked to continue as the futures of both Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows were uncertain.
AJ Styles was greeted with a huge response and a big push, challenging for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on PPV just a few months after his debut. Nakamura was presented like a huge star in NXT, receiving a welcome which made him feel even more of a massive name. Anderson and Gallows, with their reputation for being such a strong tag team after winning the World Tag League and the IWGP World Tag Team Titles, were hoping to receive the same sort of welcome.
Initially, the impending and anticipated arrival of Anderson and Gallows was expected to take place on the Raw after WrestleMania, which would have been a great place to introduce them with a crowd who would have undoubtedly been familiar with them. However, WWE waited another week to bring them in, and whilst the reaction was decent, their arrival felt very underwhelming compared to other recent debuts. They ambushed and attacked The Usos following a match, making their presence known.
Karl Anderson And Luke Gallows Quickly Fell Down The Card In WWE
Targeting The Usos was an intentional move, due to Styles feuding with their cousin, Roman Reigns. This presented an interesting dynamic as the duo were playing heels whilst Styles was face. This could have been dragged out, but it wasn’t long until Styles aligned with them and turned heel also during a feud with John Cena. Things were going okay, although they already felt like background characters to Styles. However, it was a trio act which had legs - that was until WWE split them up in the draft, leaving them to Raw.
They went after the New Day in what could have been a defining feud. Instead, they feuded over Big E’s testicles, in addition to getting involved in shenanigans with Jon Stewart at SummerSlam. It was a complete disaster of a rivalry which prompted them to just drop down the card. After losing all their momentum, they finally won the Raw Tag Team Titles in 2017, before dropping them a few months later at WrestleMania. From there, they became bit-part players and were barely featured.
WWE Needs To Ensure Gallows And Anderson Don’t Become Lackeys To AJ Styles Once Again
WWE then decided to use the team a little, this time in a tandem with Finn Balor. Again, this Bullet Club reunion could have had legs, but they were split up before getting a chance to achieve anything substantial. From there, they would have a brief and uninspiring tag reign, a win in the Saudi Arabia “Tag Team World Cup”, and then went back to being AJ Styles’ lackeys before their release in 2020, which prompted some backstage heat between Styles and then Head of Raw, Paul Heyman.
The problem with Anderson and Gallows was that WWE failed to truly give them distinctive personalities or characters outside of just being a “tag team” and friends of AJ Styles, with vague references to their Bullet Club past, making their team-ups feel at times like a cheap copy. With their recent return, coming to the aid of AJ Styles, it seems dangerously close to history repeating itself in terms of their fortunes. Of course, WWE has improved overall under the leadership of Triple H, so time will tell on their potential for success. Either way, their history in WWE, whilst being masked with a few title reigns here and there, is very poor, with WWE wasting their momentum, and potential for them to be a big part of the tag team division, which is always in need for more focus.