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AJ Styles’ Ex-WWE Rival Teases Return To Retire Him

By John Canton • Published Jan 24, 2026 11:10 EST
AJ Styles

A wrestler from AJ Styles’ WWE past has jokingly claimed that he could retire Styles if Gunther fails to do it.

There was a promo exchange on the January 19th edition of WWE Monday Night Raw that saw AJ Styles confront Gunther and tell the Austrian that he wanted a match at the Royal Rumble.

Styles wanted a match with Gunther because Gunther tapped out in his match with Styles a week earlier. Since the referee never saw the tap, Gunther came back to win with a Powerbomb.

During their initial promo exchange, Gunther said no because he plans to be in the Men’s Royal Rumble match. As the promo progressed, Gunther said he would face Styles at the Rumble just as long as AJ puts his career on the line at the Royal Rumble.

In a backstage segment later on Raw, Styles accepted Gunther’s challenge, and Raw GM Adam Pearce made it official: Gunther vs. AJ Styles with AJ’s career on the line.

Gunther beat Bill Goldberg and John Cena in their final matches in 2025, so the idea is that the “Career Killer” Gunther wants to do that to Styles in what could be his last WWE match as well.

It was about a decade ago on the SmackDown brand when Styles was in a WWE Title feud with Dean Ambrose, and a guy named James Ellsworth was involved in the story. Ambrose used Ellsworth as a comedic wrestler who infuriated Styles, which led to matches between them.

Writing on X/Twitter, Ellsworth suggested that if Gunther can’t wrestle Styles then perhaps Ellsworth can return to do it.

This is likely a sarcastic remark from Ellsworth and doesn’t need to be taken seriously, but it’s the thought that counts.

AJ Styles Will Be In Action On Saturday Night’s Main Event

It was a busy week for AJ Styles because he appeared on the January 23rd edition of WWE SmackDown as he spoke to SmackDown GM Nick Aldis in a backstage segment.

During the segment, Aldis wanted Styles to be sure about having a match with Gunther, and Styles said he was. That’s when Aldis admitted that there was another reason he wanted Styles to be there.

Shinsuke Nakamura walked in to make sure Styles was sure he was ready for Gunther. Nakamura challenged Styles to a match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Styles asked Aldis if they had room on the card, Aldis said yeah and Styles shook on it with his old friend/rival Nakamura to make it official.

Here’s the lineup for WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on January 24th in Montreal:

  • Undisputed WWE Title No. 1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way Match: Randy Orton vs. Trick Williams vs. Damian Priest vs. Sami Zayn
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Jacob Fatu
  • Women’s Tag Team Championships: Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan & Roxanne Perez
  • AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

You can watch Saturday Night’s Main Event, streaming live on January 24 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Peacock in the United States and WWE’s YouTube channel internationally.