AJ Styles has explained why he chose to end his legendary in-ring career at the 2026 Royal Rumble rather than WrestleMania.
The 2-time WWE Champion made it clear in 2025 that he would be retiring within the next year. Although fans knew Styles would wrestle his final match in 2026, few expected him to retire at the year’s first major WWE event.
Putting his career on the line against Gunther, Styles was defeated by The Ring General in Saudi Arabia in late January, much to the shock of fans.
WrestleMania has traditionally served as the stage for some of the biggest retirements in WWE history. From Ric Flair to Steve Austin and The Undertaker, many have chosen to write the final chapter at the Show of Shows. However, while speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Styles explained why WrestleMania was not the right place for him to bring his career to an end:
“That wasn’t my pay-per-view or PLE. That’s not where I started. For me to be able to debut and then end it at the Royal Rumble, and I don’t care that it was in Saudi Arabia, it’s still the Royal Rumble. That meant something to me. I know there’s people who have WrestleMania as their big PLE, but mine was the Royal Rumble.”
Styles made his WWE debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble, meaning his retirement match took place exactly ten years after his WWE debut.
AJ Styles Explains Why He Chose a Royal Rumble Retirement Over a Farewell Tour
Styles’ decision also differed from the approach taken by John Cena, who concluded his career in late 2025 following a year-long retirement tour. When asked if he had plans for a farewell tour in the same interview, Styles responded that he didn’t need one:
“No, not at all. I didn’t need one. It was perfectly fine the way I was doing it. In fact, not a lot of people do. So I saw Cody and John calling their match at WrestleMania, I believe it was the one that I was supposed to retire at, and I kind of went up to him and I go, ‘Hey, this is to us in our last WrestleManias.’ He’s like, huh? I was like, yeah. So it was kind of cool to be there for his last run, and I credit John for that. It wasn’t about the tour; it was about making money for WWE and him getting his flowers at the same time.”
Styles also confirmed in the interview that there had been discussions about having his last match at WrestleMania 41, but he wanted to extend his career following his previous injury:
“Well, I was gonna retire before the Royal Rumble [2026] at WrestleMania [41], but I just come back from my foot injury, and just didn’t seem right, I was feeling kind of good, actually. Once I got my foot back in order, I was like, man, and there was some kind of I don’t know, and I’m sure money was a thing, because I didn’t ask for more money, I just wanted to extend it. But then again, they did right by me, paying me well, and so I know that was an issue, but then we finally got that in order, and I was like, all right, here we go.”
Following the retirement match, Styles appeared live one more time in his home state of Georgia. The former World Champion was then surprised by The Undertaker, who announced that Styles would be inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the 2026 class.
Featured image: WWE
