Levesque talks about Styles’ retirement.
After 10 years with WWE, A.J. Styles’ time with the company has come to a close. He put his career on the line in a singles match against GUNTHER at the Royal Rumble, and GUNTHER choked Styles out to emerge victorious.
Styles’ retirement was delved into by WWE Chief Content Officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque on the Royal Rumble post-show. He said Styles’ influence on the wrestling business will be Shawn Michaels-esque.
“You know, 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.”
Levesque was asked about a potential pivot for Styles to coaching and helping the next generation. He said Styles wants to give back and added that the route Shawn Michaels took could be the same path that Styles takes.
Levesque stated that Styles made it clear to him that he’s just done with the in-ring portion of his wrestling career.
“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.”
Styles has yet to make a comment regarding his retirement. On the lead-up to the match with GUNTHER, he specifically stated that his ‘WWE career’ would be over if he lost. To read the social media reactions to Styles’ retirement from those in the wrestling business, click here.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Fightful with an H/T for the transcriptions.
