AJ Styles Says He "Needed A Change" In WWE After Doc Gallows And Karl Anderson Were Released

On last week's episode of Friday Night SmackDown, WWE announced AJ Styles had been traded from Monday Night Raw to the blue brand. The trade seemed to come out of nowhere, as while Styles was in the Intercontinental Championship Tournament, many assumed he would lose in the earlier rounds so he could appear on the brand later in the year.

The Phenomenal One discussed returning to the house that he built on the After The Bell podcast. He told Corey Graves that he needed a change after Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson were released on April 15 as being on Raw just reminded him they weren't there anymore. Styles also reiterated that he feels responsible for their releases because he encouraged the tag team to re-sign with WWE, only for them to later be released by the company.

The two-time WWE Champion said: "I needed a change, and I don't mean to hop on this, but losing Gallows and Anderson really hurt me, and so getting away from Raw helps me get over it. I don't know if I'll get over it, but like it helps change the atmosphere around me and to do something different because like the whole time on Raw basically was with them, so getting away from that, getting to SmackDown, I've had a lot of success, it's a good thing.

"Looking back, I was the one that kind of brought their names to come to WWE and everything. So when they got released, I immediately feel responsible for them just because I helped them get here and I wanted them to stay. I feel like if I hadn't encouraged them to stay maybe they would be fine right now. So, a lot of that fell on me and it destroyed me. Like, I feel like I let them down."