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The April 29 episode of WWE Raw ended with AJ Styles and Universal champion Seth Rollins signing contracts in the middle of the ring ahead of their match at Money In The Bank on May 19.
As is usually the case with WWE contract signings, this one did not go smoothly. Once Michael Cole left the ring, the verbal exchanges soon became physical, with Styles sending Rollins through a table with a Phenomenal Forearm to stand tall at the end of the episode.
Interestingly, two of Styles’ sidekicks from his first year in WWE, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, were defeated by The Usos earlier in the night, despite the fact that they were supposed to remain on SmackDown Live after the Superstar Shake-Up.
The trio were part of Bullet Club before their arrivals in WWE, where they went on to be known as The Club, and they became one of the most prominent factions on WWE programming in 2016 during feuds with high-profile names including Roman Reigns and John Cena.
After originally being split up in the 2016 WWE Draft, Gallows & Anderson teamed with Styles on the odd occasion during their time on SmackDown Live, but the three men never had an official reunion.
Now that they are all back together again on the same Raw roster, let’s take a look at five big hints that the three-man version of The Club is set to reunite on Monday nights.
#5 Why else is The Club on Raw?
The 2019 Superstar Shake-Up had some good moments, notably Roman Reigns moving to SmackDown Live and AJ Styles moving to Raw, but there is no denying that this has been the worst Shake-Up out of the three that have taken place since 2017.
Why? Well, you need look no further than Monday’s episode of Raw. Two weeks after the Shake-Up was supposedly finalised during a two-night extravaganza, SmackDown Live duo Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson showed up on Raw and were suddenly declared members of the red brand’s roster.
The Raw tag division is already stacked, with The Viking Raiders, The Usos and The Revival all gunning for Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins' tag titles, so it is not as if the roster needed to be bolstered with yet another tag team.
If Gallows & Anderson are not going to be viewed as possible tag champions, then perhaps their last-minute addition to the Raw roster is due to them potentially reuniting with Styles in the near future.
#4 AJ Styles recently hinted at a reunion
One week before the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up took place, AJ Styles teased a reunion with his former Bullet Club colleagues when he tweeted two pictures of himself alongside Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and Finn Balor, accompanied by the caption: “#SuperstarShakeUp Too Sweet.”
Styles and Balor – two former Bullet Club leaders – have only crossed paths in one televised match in WWE, with the Irishman defeating the two-time WWE champion in an impromptu encounter at TLC 2017.
With Balor over on SmackDown Live, the only chance of a Club reunion now is if Styles joins forces once again with Gallows & Anderson on Raw.
It is worth remembering that, although Gallows & Anderson have recently started appearing on WWE programming again, they were largely forgotten about during their last year on SmackDown Live, leading to reports that they will leave WWE when their contracts expire later this year.
Perhaps a fresh storyline with Styles could persuade the duo to stick around for a while longer.
#3 The emphasis on ‘bulletproof’
Although the AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson version of Bullet Club was never actually called “Bullet Club” in WWE, the group would often reference their former name by inserting the word “bullet” into their promos.
Even Finn Balor, despite never officially aligning with any of the aforementioned Superstars in WWE, has been able to sneak in a few “bullet” references in his promos over the last few years, and WWE went one step further by selling merchandise containing the “Bulletproof Balor Club” phrase.
This week, before Gallows & Anderson faced The Usos, Anderson mentioned in a backstage interview how both he and Gallows were going to show the rest of the Raw tag division the reason why they are both “bulletproof”.
Their plan didn’t work – they lost – but the “bulletproof” mention certainly made a lot of people believe that a possible Club reunion could be on the cards.
#2 AJ Styles showed signs of a heel turn
While the majority of this week’s Raw felt a little underwhelming, especially the reveal of the Money In The Bank participants, the show-closing contract signing between Seth Rollins and AJ Styles has been well received by fans.
The most interesting takeaway from the segment was the crowd’s negative reaction towards Styles, who has been a babyface for the last two years on SmackDown Live.
When two major babyfaces like Rollins and Styles meet, there is often a 50/50 split with fans getting involved in duelling chants for both men (e.g. Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura before Nakamura’s heel turn). On this occasion, however, the fans made it quite clear that they will be rooting for Rollins, not Styles, in this Universal Championship rivalry.
“The Phenomenal One” was definitely the more aggressive of the two men during the war of words, as well as when he sent Rollins through the table.
Moving forward, it would not be at all surprising if Styles became a full-on heel again with both Club members by his side, just like in 2016.
#1 AJ Styles mentioned how Seth Rollins has no allies
As well as the multiple hints that AJ Styles is transitioning into a heel, another interesting takeaway from the contract signing came when the Universal Championship #1 contender referenced Seth Rollins’ Shield partners, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose.
With Reigns now on SmackDown Live and Ambrose gone from WWE, Styles said:
“Your little team, your little brotherhood, they’re not here to keep you going. They’re not here to hold you up, Seth. Not anymore. And don’t get me wrong, you went through hell at WrestleMania [against Brock Lesnar]. The problem is, I just don’t think you have much left.”
The way that this segment was going, it felt like the stage was set for Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to join Styles in a beatdown of Rollins, with the former Bullet Club stars showing "The Beastslayer" that, while he no longer has his Shield partners, their bond is stronger than ever.
In the end, that did not happen, but Styles definitely planted the seeds for a reunion with these Shield comments.
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