AJ Styles expecting to retire within the next year

[R-Troop]

AJ Styles Confirms He's Planning To Retire 'Within The Next Year'

'The Phenomenal' AJ Styles is planning to wrap up his in-ring career within the next year. He spoke about post-retirement plans as well.

www.fightful.com

AJ Styles told Tokyo Sports that he intends to retire within the next year. He also said he will probably work with WWE after retirement.

 

[Kairi HoHo]

Cena, Tana, and Styles we are all losing are hitting us like a Freight Train. Now I'm sad but the guy has done everything in Wrestling he's earned that Retirement coming.

 

[camdudetenger9]

hope aj styles does a retirement tour like the doctor of thuganomics johnny cena and njpw president hiroshiro tanahashi

 

[Barry Poppins]

Hopefully AJ's retirement won't be total fucking ass and Worst WOTY stuff like Cena's has been.

 

[Mr. PrettyGood]

I understand it won't happen, but I think the ideal way for Styles to go out would be in a six-sided ring.

 

[ScareValue]

I understand it won't happen, but I think the ideal way for Styles to go out would be in a six-sided ring.

I don't think anyone hated the six sided ring more than AJ. That thing hurts…and he took more crazy bumps on it than anyone. Honestly his body holding up and avoiding major injuries as long as he did is a miracle.

i remember a story of him taking that Angle move where he’d leap to the top rope and toss you off in the six sided ring and telling Kurt he’d never take it again…then they switched to the standard four sided ring and he let him toss him again and said it was nothing in comparison. something about the way it’s put together is just hell to work on.

 

[Lady Redfield]

My heart breaks

 

[Comrade Khan]

He says that every year

 

[camdudetenger9]

Hopefully AJ's retirement won't be total fucking ass and Worst WOTY stuff like Cena's has been.

what if he does a retirement tour only in njpw and tna

 

[Deadd2009]

what if he does a retirement tour only in njpw and tna

They aren't letting him do that

 

[Barry Poppins]

what if he does a retirement tour only in njpw and tna

 

[R-Troop]

I'm kinda surprised they gave him Cena. I love it. But surprised nonetheless.

Honestly, I don't know who WWE could get for an AJ Farewell tour where he runs back the hits. Cena, Balor, Nakamura. MAYBE Jericho if he leaves AEW.

 

[Hosferatu]

I'm kinda surprised they gave him Cena. I love it. But surprised nonetheless.

Honestly, I don't know who WWE could get for an AJ Farewell tour where he runs back the hits. Cena, Balor, Nakamura. MAYBE Jericho if he leaves AEW.

Sadly doesn't sound that promising on paper. Cena is a shell of himself basically, Balor has little main roster credibility, Nakamura even less so + their WWE work was subpar, and then Jericho is not even someone I view as a notable Styles rival, plus he's fairly washed, so again, the appeal for that is pretty low.

I feel like yeah, you wanna envision an AJ farewell tour being filled with great in-ring matches with his storied rivals but I don't imagine that'll be the case. I think you just gotta give him the most fun and interesting matches on his way out, like against Dom, and then also I'd like to see him facing Gable, Gunther, Dragon Lee, Dunne, Melo, dudes like that... sprinkle in the nostalgia and homages for sure but I guess I like to picture a final year for AJ being a little more lowkey, check off some matches with exciting opponents and let the work speak for itself instead of trying to conjure up some kind of greatest hits tour when most of his notable opponents either don't work for WWE currently or are well past their primes. The people in WWE that he has history with and could still have a really good match with right now, would realistically be Owens, Zayn, Lesnar and Reigns I think anyways.