So far, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows haven’t needed much help during their opening few weeks in the WWE. They first took out former tag team champions The Usos, and more recently, the veteran team laid out WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns. They’ve done that without any help, and in fact, former Bullet Club mate AJ Styles has gone out of his way to insist that he doesn’t need to work with Gallows and Anderson to be successful.
But will it stay that way?
Should Anderson and Gallows remain a tag team, or should they team up with another superstar or superstars to create a larger stable? While both options have merit, one is clearly the better choice long-term.
Stable Background
The only real choice with Gallows and Anderson is to put them in a stable of sorts, first and foremost, because the WWE owes it to wrestling fans.
Through a series of maneuvers, the WWE has now brought in four former Bullet Club members in Gallows, Anderson, Finn Balor and AJ Styles. The WWE writers have already connected Gallows and Anderson with Styles in their main roster storyline, and Balor currently has shirts with a “Bulletproof” motif. There’s been no shortage of talk about the group coming together in some form or fashion, and it would be cruel to fans of the group and pro wrestling as a whole not to give them that group.
It wouldn’t have to be just those guys, though, as the New Japan Pro Wrestling version of the Bullet Club generally has quite a few members, including Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, Cody Hall and others. In WWE, the newcomers could add in talent like Dean Ambrose or Baron Corbin to connect themselves to the existing roster.
WWE Needs Stables
The Attitude Era in WWE, then the WWF, was perhaps defined by stables like the Corporation, the Ministry of Darkness and D-Generation X. How those groups interacted and transitioned from heel to face made the programming interesting, and the same was true of groups like the Four Horsemen and the NWO in WCW.
Lately, though, the stables and factions have been lacking in the WWE. Outside of the Authority, no other group has gained and maintained traction for long enough to reach the same legendary status as their predecessors. While the Wyatts have been impressive at times since re-connecting, a lack of competition makes their success completely contingent on the individual success of the group’s members, and it just hasn’t been there.
Given the Bullet Club to duel with, the Wyatts and others like the League of Nations and even the tag team champion New Day can start to do new, more creative things that make sense in the storyline, like adding members or forming other alliances.
Revive the Shield
Fans have been clamoring for and speculation about a reunion of The Shield since Seth Rollins turned his back on Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns to join the Authority in June of 2014. While a huge hunk of the WWE Universe would love to see it, such an occurrence would need to be driven by a major event, and the Bullet Club – or Balor Club – might be just the force to make it happen.
Dean Ambrose is one of the most over acts in the company, and has been at that level consistently for almost a year now. Rollins is expected to return from his injury as a white-hot babyface, as well, and Reigns was his most popular when he was part of the trio. All three have competed for or even held the world title, so it would be hard to bring them back together.
But if Gallows and Anderson teamed up with Styles, Balor or both and added a couple more decent names in an effort to take over the WWE, claiming belts and TV time along the way, The Shield could return as the true “Hounds of Justice” once more.
