Two more names are reportedly on their way out of WWE after turning down recent WWE contract offers.
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Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows have reportedly turned down multi-million dollar contracts and are planning on leaving the company when their contracts expire this September according to a report from PWInsider. They are the latest in a string of names that have already left the company or are leaving the company in the coming months.
Anderson and Gallows made headlines in early 2016 when it was revealed that they were leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling for the WWE. The news of their departures from WWE came simultaneously with word that AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura were also headed to WWE, moves that nobody saw coming. Even more shocking was that the reports came on the heels of that year’s WrestleKingdom event at the Tokyo Dome.
With Gallows and Anderson having been founding members of the wildly popular Bullet Club, expectations were high for the team in WWE. There was thoughts of them recreating the popular stable in WWE alongside Styles, who had been the leader of the faction in NJPW.
However, that team never really came to fruition in WWE. The three talents were placed alongside each other at different times, but never in a long term story that carried any real significance. Eventually, Styles was on a separate brand from his former teammates and the tag team of Gallows and Anderson lost a lot of prominence in the WWE hierarchy.
Even so, the move to WWE did provide both men with steady paychecks closer to home, so it’s not likely that either man regrets their move to the WWE. However, it’s entirely understandable that they could feel some creative frustration and their time with New Japan in the past is proof positive that they could play a far more significant role than they have on WWE television.
In recent weeks, the pair have been flown to television despite not being used but they have not been booked on the house show circuit. While it’s possible the team could have a change of heart before their contracts expire in late September, there’s no doubt that rumors will heat up about the possibility of them moving on to AEW.
