The Club Has Limited Future in WWE Outside of Relationship with AJ Styles

AJ Styles is a card-carrying member of The Club. But for the veteran duo that suddenly finds itself divorced from the tag team championship division, that may be part of the problem.

As of right now, The Club is sitting pretty. Riding the waves of a career renaissance from Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are entrenched in a long-term feud with John Cena.

But what happens when it's all over? Once Styles settles into an inevitable role as a midcard veteran, will there even be room for Anderson and Gallows to matter?

In their first two weeks on the roster, the duo entered WWE like a house afire. Attacking the Usos, then doing the same to former WWE champion Roman Reigns, they were presented as outsiders in the vain of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. With ambiguity surrounding their relationship with then-babyface Styles, Anderson and Gallows were their own entity and even seemed destined to end the unstoppable reign of The New Day.

But since the three made it official through a well-executed heel turn from Styles, Anderson and Gallows seem more like henchmen than a top-tier vigilante tag team. For now, this is great news with the tandem in a high-profile feud against Cena, but not so much once Styles moves on to more standard opponents.

As recently as Money in the Bank, The Club stood on its own, competing for the WWE Tag Team Championships. But the deeper Styles gets into his feud with Cena, the more The Club is used as a support system rather than a budding tag team.

As The Club continues to tag along with Styles, fans will become so accustomed to this parasitic relationship that they won't be able to take it seriously if and when it breaks away.

Such was the problem with The Wyatt Family. After a strong debut and a series of memorable early feuds, The Wyatt Family momentarily split. Unfortunately, despite much fanfare, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper's singles run were not as memorable, and it wasn't long before the two reunited with Bray Wyatt in their natural roles as his heavies.

Once an entity is established as a bit player to a much bigger picture, it becomes increasingly difficult to take it seriously in the aftermath. It's why Virgil could never compete for anything more than the Million Dollar Championship after he split with Ted DiBiase. It's why Ricardo Rodriguez is in the Alumni section. It's why people barely remember the Disciples of Apocalypse.

It's also why WWE was wise to position The Shield as a triad of equal parts rather than a leader and his two cronies. Because of that dynamic, all three Shield members are either current or former world champions who all but live in the main event.

WWE has made it clear that Anderson and Gallows are mercenaries working to keep Styles as strong as possible. And while this will feed into Cena inevitably overcoming steep odds, it doesn't bode well for the duo once all is said and done.

Alfred Konuwa is a featured columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.