It’s Official! Gunther Looks To Retire Another WWE Legend At Royal Rumble 2026

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther is looking to make his way back to the title he lost at SummerSlam last year. The Ring General became the first RAW superstar to declare for the Royal Rumble this year.

He already has the record for lasting the longest in a Royal Rumble match and has come close to winning the event before, but doing so this time will certainly be more challenging for the Ring General.

Gunther is set to pull off a double duty in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as he will not only compete in the Rumble, but also look to retire another WWE legend at the show.

AJ Styles puts his career on the line at WWE Royal Rumble

Gunther had a huge 2025 as he retired two of WWE’s biggest names, Goldberg and John Cena. He has been boasting about the achievement ever since and was confronted by AJ Styles regarding the same.

Styles faced Gunther last week on RAW, but lost the match after the Ring General cheated his way to a win. Styles then challenged him to a match at Royal Rumble, but Gunther refused before stating he’d only accept the match if AJ put his career on the line.

IT'S OFFICIAL @AJStylesOrg will put his career on the line against Gunther at the Royal Rumble pic.twitter.com/8TyckrKbDY

— WWE (@WWE) January 19, 2026

The Phenomenal One had until the end of the night to accept Gunther’s challenge, and after contemplating the decision for a while, Styles accepted the challenge, and the match between the two former World Champions was made official for Royal Rumble 2026.

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