WWE
AJ Styles has officially retired at today’s WWE Royal Rumble 2026 premium live event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Styles faced GUNTHER in a match today with the stiplulation that if GUNTHER won, Styles would have to retire.
That’s exactly what happened as GUNTHER adds Styles to a list that already included Goldberg and John Cena of legendary names that he’s beaten in retirement matches over the past few months.
Unlike Cena, Styles didn’t tap out, but he did pass out in GUNTHER’s sleeper hold.
After the match, Styles took off his gloves and was about to leave them in the ring, but he put them back on so he could pose with the P1 logo one more time.
Styles’ first match on record came in 1999 for NWA Wildside. He briefly worked a few matches for WCW and WWE in 2001 and 2002 before establishing himself in TNA, becoming one of the faces of that promotion with a run lasting well over a decade.
He also worked for other top non-WWE promotions including ROH and NJPW before debuting for WWE in the 2016 Royal Rumble match.
10 years later, he had his last match for the company today at the 2026 edition of the Rumble event.
During his time in WWE, Styles became a two-time WWE Champion, a three-time United States Champion, an Intercontinental Champion, and a two-time Tag Team Champion – once with Omos in 2021 and once with Dragon Lee in 2025.
A few months ago, Styles had said that his plan was to retire from in-ring action in 2026.
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