Roman Reigns Vs. AJ Styles: The Plot Thickens

Ever since the WWE went with AJ Styles as the #1 contender for the WWE Championship, there just felt like the WWE might be aiming for more than just a title defense for Roman Reigns. The first two weeks have been pretty lackluster for the feud development here, but business picked up this week. AJ Styles actually interacted with two men he knows very well, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. They looked like they would be on his side. They even attacked Roman Reigns on Raw. AJ Styles has not turned heel and is saying he had nothing to do with all that.

It is not surprising that these three men would interact. Wrestling fans are excited for the Bullet Club. Should the WWE have handled things differently? How about have Gallows and Anderson debut at Payback by getting involved in the title match? There is something to be said for foreshadowing. Plant the seeds of things to come. Should the WWE have handled their debut last week better? Have them interact with AJ Styles sooner? I would let it go. No big deal.

What might be a bigger deal is the WWE relying on a stable that doesn't have that mass exposure. Over a decade ago, the WWE brought in the NWO, a legendary stable born in WCW. They took a group from a promotion that was actually beating them in the ratings for a while. It also helps that Hall, Nash & Hogan had a history in the WWE before the NWO. But just focusing on the stable, that was a WCW thing. The Bullet Club is not the NWO. They are not coming from a promotion that can say they are a legitimate rival for the WWE. Wrestling fans may be excited for this and getting Twitter flooded with Bullet Club stuff, but there might also be some fans wondering why they should get excited for Festus.

One of the reasons fans have said in the past that the WWE is awful these days is because they don't have any real competition. If they did, that would motivate them to work harder. That would also provide them with ideas to take from their rivals. You have still seen the WWE and TNA seem to work off of each other at times during the years, but how much of that has really been successful for the WWE? It sure hasn't helped TNA. And now, the WWE is aiming even further down, taking ideas from promotions that have even less notoriety in the American market than TNA did in it's peak. The WWE has to be careful with this. You are appealing heavily to a certain type of fans, but there are a lot of viewers out there that won't know what to make of this. They might feel left out.

All that aside, who turns heel in this situation? You can have AJ Styles embrace his former comrades and screw Roman Reigns. The WWE can pull the swerve and have Roman Reigns turn heel and align with Gallows and Anderson. Fans won't let up on Roman Reigns. The WWE might as well turn him heel eventually. Cena can continue to be portrayed as an eternal face for the rest of his career. No one else needs to be treated like that.

Another option I see fans bringing up is Finn Balor debuting and leading Gallows and Anderson. They all have that common bond. Even if they don't debut him now, it seems likely Balor will eventually get involved with this group, since the WWE is embracing the Bullet Club. They can't hide his involvement with that.

There is an option I have not come across anyone else bringing up. It is probably the weakest option. Both AJ Styles and Roman Reigns stay face and both just feud against Gallows and Anderson. No turns. No debuts. The whole situation is just used to put over the two faces in the end, with Roman Reigns also being paired with someone rowdy smarks love in an attempt to help him get over with those fans. Sounds like something the WWE might do, but I am hoping for better.