On Wednesday, WWE made a series of cost-cutting measures by releasing a number of Superstars, producers, and behind the scenes talent. Among them were Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, members of AJ Styles' faction, The O.C. The tag team was never given the push many fans felt they deserved, but they recent signed contract extensions and even got involved in that Boneyard match at WrestleMania.
During a recent Mixer stream (via PW Insider), Styles weighed in on Gallows and Anderson's release, and blames himself for them being among the wrestlers who were fired on what's become known as "Black Wednesday."
"I wish I was a little bit more upbeat, but some crazy things have happened in the past couple of days that just...just sucks, that's all I can say," he started. "If you didn't know Gallows and Anderson, guys who were like my brothers, were released yesterday and it uh...that one hurt, that one hurt really bad. Really bad."
"I mean, it's just like the only way I know how to explain it is like these guys are my family and I couldn't take care of my little brothers, you know what I'm saying? Like that's the way I feel about it," Styles said. "Like I'm the oldest and I'm supposed to take care of them and I didn't manage to do that and I feel responsible in some weird way for them being released. It's devastating, I don't know any other way to explain it."
It isn't Styles' fault, but it's not surprising he feels this way, and it's going to be interesting seeing how WWE books him as a singles star again. For what it's worth, Gallows and Anderson will more than likely land on their feet once this is all over by heading back to Japan and showing WWE what they're missing.