AJ Styles previously of the Raw brand would also be part of SmackDown’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament, with the reason for his inclusion believed to being part of the newly instated brand-to-brand invitation. Then while walking to the ring for his first-round match against Shinsuke Nakamura, the commentators confirmed Styles had been traded to the blue brand. At the time of the trade, there didn’t appear to be anything unusual about the move, but now it seems it was due to AJ Styles being unhappy with Paul Heyman, who was Executive Director of Raw at the time according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Meltzer would post on the F4W message board explaining the reason for Styles unhappiness at being part of Raw under Heyman.
Styles, along with Gallows and Anderson, were part of The O.C. faction on Raw, and Styles would refer to the duo as his “little brothers.” Gallows and Anderson last year had negotiated fantastic deals at $750,000 each per year, and that kind of pay put them on Vince McMahon’s radar when he had decided to make roster cuts.
Somewhat ironically, Paul Heyman was a big fan of AJ Styles, saying in an interview with Sky Sports in 2017 that Styles was “everything that Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart, and Ric Flair were to their generation and he’s updated it. He’s evolved their styles to truly be the single most phenomenal in-ring performer I have ever had the honor and the pleasure of watching up close.”
