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WWE Star Pulls Fake Retirement On SmackDown

By Lyle Kilbane • Published 1st June 2024
Randy Orton AJ Styles WWE SmackDown

One WWE star channelled his inner Mark Henry as they faked a retirement on SmackDown just to attack an unsuspecting Cody Rhodes.

In 2013, Mark Henry donned a salmon pink jacket and said his goodbyes to the WWE crowd as he brought the curtain down on his career with an emotional speech. Henry was joined by WWE Champion John Cena who paid tribute to the World’s Strongest Man but Henry attacked in one of the most famous moments in modern wrestling history as he told Cena he had a lot left in the tank before going on to challenge for the WWE Title at Money In The Bank.

Now, what’s old is new again and after failing to dethrone Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship at Backlash France, AJ Styles looked set to hang up his boots on SmackDown.

SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis told Styles if he wanted another shot at the title he’d have to start all over again leading Styles to consider if he had enough time left to do that. During the show, an announcement by Styles was teased and sure enough, he seemed to be saying goodbye to the WWE fans as he was joined by long-time allies Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows.

AJ Styles Not Done With WWE Champion

Perhaps, the penny should have dropped when Styles invited Cody Rhodes to the ring and told the WWE Champion that while SmackDown will always be the house that AJ Styles built, he was now giving the keys to Rhodes.

Rhodes raised Styles’ arm and posed with him in an emotional moment before Styles pounced, laying out The American Nightmare.

AJ Styles took things further when he delivered a nasty Styles Clash to Rhodes off the steel steps onto the arena floor while Anderson and Gallows kept the referees and Nick Aldis trying to stop the assault at bay.