Karl Anderson On Who Is The Best Wrestler In The World Today, The Rise Of Kenny Omega, AJ Styles
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson recently appeared on The Steve Austin Show Unleashed podcast. Anderson had some nice things to say about two of his former Bullet Club stablemates, Kenny Omega and AJ Styles.
Both Anderson and Gallows rose to popularity as part of the famed Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Anderson had the pleasure of working with Omega at the start of his rise into a main-event superstar. Omega is now the IWGP United States Champion and is slated for a high-profile match against Chris Jericho at WrestleKingdom 12 in January.
"Kenny Omega has had a great rise. He is a great buddy of mine. When he got into the Bullet Club it gave him a big shove, so it is cool to see where he has been going now because he's a great athlete," Anderson said. "I have had some great matches with him all the time, in 6-man, and 8-man tags on the road. He is a real creative, different cat. He's from Canada and those Canadians are different cats. It's cool to see that rise."
As for Styles, he and Anderson developed a great friendship during their time together in NJPW. Anderson said he initially wasn't sure how willing Styles would be to integrating himself into the stable, as he was replacing Finn Balor as leader of the Bullet Club. Anderson was pleasantly surprised at how professional Styles was, and also by how great a performer he was.
"I didn't have a relationship with AJ Styles when he came over. Finn Balor had just signed with WWE so I wasn't sure what he was going to be like. I wasn't sure if he was willing to do the 'Too Sweet,' I just didn't know how some guys were going to be like. We started doing that and it was different. He just committed completely to it," Anderson said. "He was great with us, and in the ring I was blown away with how incredible he was. Over there it's a different style and a different reaction. He got it so quickly."
Anderson went on to say he believes Styles is the best wrestler in the world today. He believes Styles had some of the best performances of his career in NJPW and he was impressed with how quickly he was able to get over in the promotion.
"AJ Styles, and I've been saying this since I first saw him wrestle in 2014 in Japan, he is easily the best wrestler ever in the world. Right now, he is the best wrestler in this world at this moment," Anderson said. "If you ever get a chance to go back and see some of the matches in Japan, you think about some of the people who do it and say how cool the move was, but with AJ you look back and see how he sells stuff. He gets punched in the face and he's over. He is unreal. When he first debuted in Japan, I don't think people knew who he was because it is what it is, so he had an uphill battle, and literally turned himself into a Japanese wrestling legend because of the stuff that he has done in a short amount of time."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Steve Austin Show Unleashed with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Steve Austin Show Unleashed
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.