WWE released a handful of wrestlers on Wednesday from long-tenured stars like Zack Ryder and Heath Slater to stars who had just been on television like Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson.
Gallows & Anderson appeared in the Boneyard match at WrestleMania 36 and had been prominently featured on television alongside AJ Styles as part of The OC. Despite their seemingly good position in the company, the former Raw Tag Team Champions were part of the cutbacks.
On his Mixer channel, Styles commented on the releases.
"[Gallows & Anderson] hurt really bad," he began. "The only way I can explain it is these guys are like family and I couldn't take care of my own brothers, that's the way I feel about it. I'm the oldest, I'm supposed to take care of them and I didn't manage to do that. I feel responsible, in some weird way, for them being released. It's devastating. There's a lot of other great wrestlers (who got released). This stuff is expected with everything going on. I'm as shocked as you are with some of the guys that got released. I have my own opinions with things that could have been done differently. I'm not the CEO of the company, I don't make those decisions. Who do you blame with all this? Every company is doing this. When big companies stop making money, it's not the highest up person who takes a pay cut, everyone else does. All I know is I lost a lot of great friends."
Styles continued, saying he's reaching his breaking point in isolation during the coronavirus pandemic.
Later during his stream, Styles stated, "When Gallows & Anderson got released, I just felt alone. Those guys are with me all the time and I've never felt more alone. If Gallows & Anderson go to AEW or NJPW, I hope they kill it. I'm going to miss them, I really am. These next couple of years are going to be different."
Styles ended the conversation about the pandemic and releases by saying he feels helpless and wishes there was positive news. Styles also said he'll be wearing his OC gear in honor of Gallows & Anderson in the coming weeks on Raw. Later, Styles commented that there was a plan for the three to bring back Talkin' Shop and record live while on the bus, but that's obviously not happening now.
You can view a list of releases by clicking here.
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