On October 10, during the Crown Jewel kickoff show, AJ Styles confirmed his plans to retire in at some point in 2026. With no detail yet on how he plans to close the book on his in-ring career, many have wondered whether ‘The Phenomenal One’ may follow in the footsteps of John Cena by having a year-long retirement tour. However, that now doesn’t seem to be in the works.
Talking with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, John Cena revealed that AJ Styles doesn’t think he could do a retirement tour, with the star feeling as if he’s already overstaying his physical welcome.
“AJ Styles, such a great dude. I got to talk to him a little bit while we were locked in our program this year. ‘AJ, there are a lot of people who really admire you out there. I know you’re thinking of calling it quits soon. Do you think there is any possibility that you would try to do something like this I honestly think people would pay to see you one last time.’ He’s literally tying his shoes. He turns to me and goes, ‘Man, I’m 48.’ As soon as the words left his mouth, he didn’t have to say anything else. Something about that late 40s where he’s like, ‘I’m already overstaying my physical welcome, they just don’t see it,’ because they don’t see what goes into prep, cool down, recovery. ‘I’m already riding that razor’s edge.’ You can’t tell. He still looks great and does great stuff, but he can’t stay another second because he doesn’t want to put out a product that isn’t AJ Styles,”
-John Cena
John Cena earned a win over AJ Styles at Crown Jewel, with their match acting as a tribute to their former rivals and the industry as a whole. Now, Cena has just one date left on his retirement tour, taking on ‘The Ring General’ GUNTHER at this weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event.
No matter what the future holds for Styles, he’ll go down as one of the best of his generation. Should he retire next year, he’ll certainly be missed.
Should more emerge regarding AJ Styles’ in-ring future, Bodyslam will keep you informed.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
