Add as a preferred source on Google AJ Styles admitted that the approaching end of his career changed how he handled WWE‘s creative decisions.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, the WWE Hall of Famer said he questioned Triple H after learning that Gunther would compete in the Royal Rumble Match just hours after their retirement match.
“I’m not saying I didn’t get weird near the end of knowing I was going to retire or leave WWE; I got weird, dude. I just was questioning everything. A normal, sane AJ Styles would not question this; it would just be what it is. Even the moment where I found out Gunther was in the Royal Rumble, and I think that it already been explained that he was in the Royal Rumble, and that I got this match, but I was like, ‘What the freak?’ I think I made Triple H feel awful about, oh man, I didn’t think about that.
When reality is, nobody thought about that; nobody did, nobody cared, even when Gunther came out at the Royal Rumble and got beat. In fact, it should have made more sense that he got beat because he was in the ring with AJ Styles. He got exhausted in that match; of course he’s not going to win the Royal Rumble. So I just got weird, man. So, my apologies to everyone who I acted that way, and I was just in a weird state of mind.”
The show’s presentation already supported that logic. Gunther entered at No. 30 limping and feeling the effects of his match against Styles. He lasted 7 minutes and 51 seconds, eliminated Penta and Randy Orton, reached the final two, and was eliminated by Roman Reigns.
Styles’ reaction also came at a time when not even WWE expected his farewell to happen so soon. During the Royal Rumble post-show, Triple H said the company had envisioned the retirement coming later in 2026 but that Styles had made it clear he no longer wanted to compete.
Styles explained that he even questioned his own decision to retire, unsure of what life would look like after dedicating nearly three decades to pro wrestling. His relationship with WWE, however, remains intact — he works with talent at the Performance Center and has produced matches for EVOLVE.