Shane McMahon Breaks Silence On AJ Styles’ WWE Retirement
At the 2026 Royal Rumble, AJ Styles’ decade-long run with WWE came to an end.
Not just his stint with the Stamford-based promotion, but also his time in wrestling as a whole.
The premium live event witnessed a fight between Styles and Gunther, who had been gloating about beating John Cena at Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII in December last year.
The Phenomenal One did not take Gunther’s disrespect of the 17-time World Champion lightly and confronted him. This culminated in a match between them in the first major event of 2026.
The bout also came with a stipulation that if AJ Styles lost the match, he would have to retire.
Gunther dominated the proceedings for most of the match, hitting a flurry of chops and cornering the 48-year-old into the turnbuckles at every opportunity that he got.
In the end, it was again The Ring General’s chokehold that did the job for him, leading Styles to pass out. The referee had no choice but to call for the bell.
Shane McMahon Thanks AJ Styles For His Friendship
Shane McMahon was briefly involved in a feud with AJ Styles in 2017, which led to a singles match between the two at WrestleMania 33.
At the time, McMahon served as the WWE Commissioner. Styles, who was a heel, was frustrated with the lack of championship opportunities and crossed paths with Shane.
Styles won their WrestleMania match, which was also his first at the Showdown of the Immortals. On the following episode of SmackDown, they reconciled, with Styles turning babyface.
Shane McMahon took to Instagram to pay tribute to AJ Styles, where he thanked him for his friendship and for giving his best every time he stepped in the ring.
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After Styles’ match, there was a moment where he contemplated leaving his gloves in the ring, indicating that he had retired. However, he wore it again, leading to cheers from the Riyadh crowd.
This resulted in fans speculating whether he had actually retired. A WWE personality shared their thoughts on it.