AJ Styles was officially sent to the SmackDown roster, last month in a move that will let Monday Night Raw pick a name in the future. It came as a surprising move as WWE didn’t have a plan to host a so-called brand extension draft or any kind of trades following WrestleMania 36. Although there was a brand invitational that was going on between Raw and SmackDown for some weeks, nobody saw the switch coming.
Initially, the thinking was that WWE needed a new face for the SmackDown brand in the absence of Roman Reigns, who used to the prime figure on the show before going into a hiatus. But that may not be the only issue AJ Styles was only dealing with.
Going by the latest reports, he had some issues with the former RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman. As a result, he was sent back to the house that he helped, built.
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Rovert on Twitter, who previously broken some big pro-wrestling stories in the past, was the first one to note that AJ Styles was not happy during his time on RAW. He found it hard to get along with Heyman.
Following the classic Boneyard Match against The Undertaker, he was kept-off TV for sometimes who expected to have a big comeback. But the writing team lost that chance by calling him for 2020 Money In The Bank for no reason.
Plus, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter stated on F4W message boards that AJ Styles “was furious” over Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson firing situation from the WWE. He reportedly blamed Heyman for their releases as he didn’t involve The OC members in a suitable creative process.
It should be noted that Vince McMahon was the person who made the call to release the duo on April 15th. Meltzer noted that The Phenomenal One probably felt that Heyman could have argued with McMahon over that decision.
In the meantime, Paul Heyman was removed from the head creative’s position on Monday Night RAW, last week. But he still has a WWE performer’s contract who will be seen accompanying Brock Lesnar in the future.
#TalkNShopAMania @TalknShop @The_BigLG @azucarRoc
? pic.twitter.com/ExlwTfRIWj— The Machine Gun AKA Chad 2 Badd (@MachineGunKA) June 8, 2020
Gallows and Anderson will become free agents on July 15th. Going by their social media updates, they are likely to be working with the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, again as well as for a promotion in the United States. According to The Observer, Impact could sign Gallows and Anderson for the tag team division. As for AJ Styles, he has become the new Intercontinental Champion on SmackDown, defeating Daniel Bryan in the final match.
