5 WWE Superstars who asked to move brands

#4 AJ Styles asked to join WWE SmackDown

After working on WWE SmackDown for three years between 2016 and 2019, AJ Styles moved to WWE RAW in the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up and reformed The Club (aka The O.C.) with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

In April 2020, WWE released Gallows and Anderson as a cost-cutting measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting Styles to say on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast that he needed to get away from RAW after feeling “crushed” by the departure of his fellow faction members.

Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue reported that Styles had also received flak from members of the RAW roster for his world views, which led to him “not feeling at home” on the red brand.

"There has apparently been a lot of situations where AJ Styles has been mocked, and he has said to not be feeling particularly at home."

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer also reported that Styles blamed Paul Heyman – RAW’s Executive Director at the time of Gallows and Anderson’s departure – and he wanted to join a WWE brand where the head of creative, Bruce Prichard, was not "fighting Vince McMahon".