AJ Styles Reveals Original Plans For WWE Retirement

The WWE retirement of AJ Styles could have been different, as The Phenomenal One originally planned on calling time on his career at an earlier date.

Styles wrestled what is purported to be the last match of his career at the Royal Rumble (on January 31), where he lost to Gunther.

In a Vlog posted by WWE featuring the Grand Slam champion backstage at the Premium Live Event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Styles noted that he had initially planned on wrestling his final match at WrestleMania 41.

"Everybody wants to retire at the WrestleMania, right? The biggest show of the year that we do and I was gonna do exactly that. It just didn't feel right to come back for two months just to retire. It didn't seem right and I thought what better way to be able to leave on the pay-per-view where you debuted?", he said.

AJ suffered a Lisfranc injury in October 2024, which kept him sidelined until February 2025.

Though his match with Gunther was said to be his last, reports suggests that people within WWE don't believe he's completrly done as far as wrestling is concerned.

A tribute to AJ Styles will take place on tonight's edition of Raw.

H/T F4WOnline