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WWE, AEW & TNA Stars React To AJ Styles’ Retirement

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AJ Styles Vs Gunther WALTER 6 Royal Rumble 2026 WrestleFeed App

Here’s how the wrestling world reacted to AJ Styles’ retirement at WWE Royal Rumble 2026:

John Cena: Phenomenal is an understatement. Respect is earned and few are more worthy of universal industry wide respect than AJ Styles. Thank you AJ for all you’ve done for wrestling. From anyone who’s seen you and those lucky enough to share canvas with you.

Matt Hardy: Congrats to the truly PHENOMENAL AJ Styles on an incredible WWE career! Without you, TNA isn’t where it is today – You are the heart & soul of TNA. Thanks for making the industry of pro wrestling an overall better place, Uncle Allen.

Johnny Gargano: The guy who originally opened my eyes to a wrestling world outside of the “Big 3”. The reason a lot of us early 2000’s indie kids wore a hood to throw off for our entrances. In and out of the ring, the best of a generation. There can and always will be only one.. AJ Styles.

Johnny Gargano with AJ Styles after retirement WWE Royal Rumble 2026 backstage

Will Ospreay: Phenomenal.

Mercedes Mone: I hope the rumors are true 🤑🤞🏽

Chris Bey: AJ Styles

Flash Morgan Webster: If this is the end of his “WWE Career” And we get a year of AJ Styles on the Indies (AEW, TNA, New Japan etc) Boy howdy, my heart.

Scarlett Bordeaux: Thank you #AJStyles 🙏

Blake Christian: When I was 1 year in the business I did some extra work, there was a knock on the extras locker room door later in the night with AJ Styles pulling me out to give me some great advice that let me know I was on the right path. He inspired an entire generation of wrestlers and truly changed the game. Thank you legend

Dominik Mysterio Breaks Character After AJ Styles Retirement

Triple H Reveals What He Wants AJ Styles To Do Now

AJ Styles passed out to Gunther’s sleeper hold in a career-threatening match at Royal Rumble 2026 and lost. The Phenomenal One’s career is over and the former WWE Champion is officially retired.

On the Royal Rumble post show, Triple H said he hopes AJ will remain with WWE and contribute in a backstage role like Shawn Michaels:

“It’s a funny thing that in this business, there are very few people that are universally loved, that are universally respected, right? That no matter the wars they’ve had with other people, no matter the battles that they’ve had in this business, all of that is aside. Almost no one ever has a bad word to say about AJ Styles. It’s a testament to the human being that he is.

When you look at his career, it’s easy to say, just in the decade that he was here in WWE alone, how big of a career, how impactful of a career. But he’s one of those people, I feel like his influence on this business will be Shawn Michaels-esque.

There will be somebody 10 years from now, there will be a lot of people 10 years from now that when you talk about what got you into this business, they will say AJ Styles. When you say, what influenced your career? AJ Styles. Who do you pattern yourself after? AJ Styles. He has that level of respect and sort of impact on the business. It’s hard to measure.

We’ve had a lot of conversations on the off-chance when this all came down. Obviously, we expected it later in the year. We had a lot of conversations about it. AJ is one of those people that absolutely wants to give back and be a part of this business.

I don’t wanna speak for him, but the conversations that he had with me, he made it very clear that he was just done with the in-ring. There’s a point when you just reach in your career where you say, I don’t want to do this anymore, and when your heart goes, no matter how good you are, he hasn’t lost a step at anything, but when you just say, I’m just at a place when I don’t wanna do this anymore, it’s time.

Before you get hurt, before you get told you’re not allowed to do this anymore. I think he was there. I’m hoping that he will contribute, because again, he’s one of the most influential people in the business and one of the greatest minds in the business and I think when you see somebody like what Shawn Michaels is doing in NXT, I think that’s a path and a career for AJ Styles, beyond this period that he’s in.”

RELATED: Gunther Failed To Achieve His 2 Goals For Royal Rumble 2026

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