The returns of the Triple H era continued this week on Raw, with the additions of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, The Good Brothers, back into the fold of the WWE to feud with The Judgment Day. It’s interesting to note that Anderson is still booked for the New Japan Tokyo Dome event in January of next year. Gallows and Anderson were a part of the cinematic “boneyard” match that The Undertaker had with AJ Styles at Wrestlemania 36, the event that took place in an empty building during the peak of the COVID shutdown. As I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of cinematic matches and the concept is too far outside of the scope of standard pro wrestling for me, but the positive feedback for the AJ/Undertaker production was notable. If nothing else, the on-location presentation brought some variety to an otherwise completely static broadcast in front of no fans. Considering the response to the production, it was surprising when The Good Brothers were on the chopping block for the first of several releases during the course of the pandemic less than two weeks after the show.
At the time, AJ Styles put the blame of Paul Heyman, who worked as the head of creative of Raw during that period. With The OC, back in the company, it should be interesting to see if they remain of the Monday Night show to avoid any interaction with Heyman, as the former ECW boss works primarily on Smackdown with Roman Reigns. Supposedly, AJ requested to move from Raw to Smackdown in 2020 because he didn’t want to work with Heyman after The Good Brothers were released.
While Gallows had a stint in the WWE before, for whatever reasons, he didn’t find himself among revolving gimmick in the company. Fetus and phony Kane weren’t exactly big money at the box office. Gallows seemed to land in a decent spot within the Straight Edge Society with CM Punk as the leader, but ultimately, when Punk’s tenure went int a different direction, there wasn’t a path for Gallows so he was released in 2010. He bounced around the independent scene and worked a run in Impact just before the company went off a cliff in the aftermath of the Hulk Hogan era, but finally found his niche as an agile big man in New Japan. In many ways, Gallows was at the right place at the right time, which is at least half of the battle anyway. His style fit what New Japan were looking for in their American stars, and he made a good team with Anderson. The pair worked well for the original Bullet Club stable and were able to ride the wave of momentum that made the faction one of the most popular acts in the business at its peak.
Truthfully, I was skeptical when The Good Brothers debuted on Raw in 2016, as they were a few of the New Japan imports that landed in the WWE at the time, which also included the previously mentioned Styles, and Shinsuke Nakamura. I said the same about them as well, not for lack of talent, but rather how either of them would translate to the WWE. For years, AJ was the franchise player of TNA and he was arguably the most spectacle wrestler of his generation, but the notion was thought to be that his style wouldn’t be permitted on a Vince McMahon product. Thankfully, AJ proved just how talent he is because he translated rather seamlessly into the WWE fold, and even in the latter stage of his career is still one of the best of the roster. Outside of their affiliation with AJ, The Good Brothers didn’t really find a place in the WWE during their stint, not for lack of ability, but rather that there still wasn’t a spotlight on the tag team division.
Even two and a half years after their release, if the tag division will be featured will still be a determining factor of if this fresh run will be successful.
In a vacuum, The Good Brothers returned to the company to help AJ Styles combat The Judgment Day, which is fine, but outside of this particular angle is there a role for them in the current landscape? I’m not saying there’s not a place for them, but rather to point out that their latest stint might fall flat if there’s not some type of plan for what they will be booked for in the future. Not to take anything away from their skills as a team, but their return happened rather quickly and there wasn’t necessarily a clamoring for their comeback to Raw. If AJ is going to take a more prominent spot on the show, which is always a plus, the team as his sidekicks is still a a decent role. If not, how long until the duo get lost in the shuffle of the countless hours of WWE programming that’s produced each week?
That could speak to a bigger problem on the horizon for the Triple H regime. As I’ve said before, the artificial debut pop is easy, how to utilize the returning talent is ultimately the biggest piece of the puzzle. After the slew of returns, WWE might find itself in a similar position that Tony Khan puts himself in far too often, there might simply be too many wrestlers on the roster to book properly. Time will tell how Triple H uses these returns to the company, and if the office overplayed their hand with too many returns too often. Still, when I read the online chatter that Matt Cardona might be the next free agent to be offered a deal, I have to say, I think he would continue to be better off on his own, at least for now before he should consider any return to the company. More specifically, Cardona must make sure he wouldn’t get typecast in a lower card spot again, particularly because his current run on the indies proves that he has more to offer the company.
As far as the impact of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in the grand scheme of things in WWE, I don’t think it’s necessarily all that noteworthy on its own, mostly because with the way the team were used as secondary players during their previous run, and the tag division more or less stagnant because the belts are being used for the Bloodline angle, there’s not much for The Good Brothers to accomplish beyond the Judgment day storyline on Raw.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Twitter @jimlamotta
