AJ Styles may have lost the Career Threatening match to Gunther at the Royal Rumble yet some still believe The Phenomenal One isn’t done wrestling quite just yet. One of the big clues many believe is that Styles took off his trademarked gloves but ended up putting them back on not leaving them in the middle of the ring after his loss to Gunther. Some speculate that means Style is only retired in WWE and will return to TNA to finish his career.
On the Royal Rumble Post-Show, WWE commentator Peter Rosenberg had this to say: “So just to be clear, because I know AJ went back into the ring, he went up there, took in a second round of applause. I spoke to AJ. It is very much the end. This is it for AJ Styles. He is not the kind of guy who goes back on his word when he says he’s having a match with his career on the line.”
WWE Chief Content Officer, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, spoke about Styles’ retirement as well.
“Obviously, we expected it later in the year. We had a lot of conversations about it. AJ is one of those people that absolutely wants to give back and be a part of this business. I don’t wan to speak for him but the conversations that he had with me, he made it very clear that he was just done with the in-ring,” he said.
Triple H added that he hopes Styles continues to contribute to the world of wrestling, even in a different way.
“I’m hoping that he will contribute because again he’s one of the most influential people in the business and one of the greatest minds in the business and I think when you see somebody like what Shawn Michaels is doing in NXT, I think that’s a path and a career for AJ Styles beyond this period that he’s in,” he added.
TNA published this to celebrate the career of Styles there:
