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WWE Legend Pays Tribute To AJ Styles

By Monika Thapa • Published Feb 03, 2026 05:21 EST
AJ Styles

AJ Styles has officially hung up his wrestling boots.

This past weekend at the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, Gunther put Styles to sleep, thereby retiring him from in-ring competition. While many initially believed that Styles had not actually retired and would return to the ring, it was later confirmed that Styles has indeed retired.

Following AJ’s retirement at the Royal Rumble, WWE stars and fans took to social media to pay tribute to The Phenomenal One. The Miz shared a couple of old pictures from his matches with AJ Styles on his X (Twitter) account, along with a heartfelt caption wishing Styles an emotional farewell.

The Miz tweeted, “You didn’t just succeed in every era of this business, you set the standard. You made everyone better: fans, opponents, locker rooms just by showing up and doing it the right way. Thank you for the matches, the example, and leaving this business better than you found it. Phenomenal forever. @AJStylesOrg”

Is AJ Styles Going To AEW?

Although AJ Styles retired at the Royal Rumble, his retirement applies only to WWE, meaning he is free to wrestle in other promotions. As a result, many fans believe Styles could appear elsewhere, possibly in AEW, especially since he has never wrestled there during his legendary career.

Commenting on this rumor, Sam Roberts, on his Not Sam Wrestling podcast, stated that he does not believe WWE would be “careless” enough to let Styles work elsewhere after spending years “elevating” him.

Following AJ’s retirement, a rumor began gaining traction claiming that Tony Khan was preparing to offer Styles the biggest contract of his career. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp later debunked this rumor, stating that the claim had no real credibility.

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