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AJ Styles recently said goodbye to his in-ring career at WWE’s Royal Rumble 2026 Premium Live Event. Like any other major retirement, wrestling fans are wondering whether we’ll see Styles jump ship to another wrestling promotion. He’s previously worked with plenty of companies such as ROH, TNA, NJPW, and more.
Right now, AEW is the biggest competitor to WWE, and it’s also one of the only major promotions where Styles hasn’t worked. So naturally, fans were thinking if his WWE retirement could lead to him debuting in AEW. The Phenomenal One recently answered that question.
Also read: AJ Styles Reveals Why He Retired At Royal Rumble, Not WrestleMania
AJ Styles Will Not End Up In All Elite Wrestling
Speaking on the Talk N Shop podcast, AJ Styles shut down the AEW rumors by saying he’s really retired from in-ring competition and that he still works for WWE. There was speculation from fans that WWE is putting him into the Hall of Fame so he won’t jump ships to AEW (referring to a report from Justin Barrasso), which Styles addressed on the podcast.
“Let me give you something to talk about. So, everybody wants to say, ‘Oh! WWE put him in the Hall of Fame so that he couldn’t go to AEW.’ Guys, I am retired from wrestling in the ring. Like, that’s all this is. I make my own choices, I make my own decisions. I was ready.”
Some fans would recall that Swerve Strickland invited AJ Styles to AEW post-retirement. This led to speculation that Styles could work with Tony Khan in the future. Styles’ recent comments, as well as his appearance on 2/23 Monday Night Raw, suggest that it won’t be the case.
WWE Did A Tribute Show For AJ Styles Recently
A few days ago, WWE hosted a tribute show for AJ Styles on Raw. Some TNA wrestlers were also there to celebrate his career, along with the WWE roster. Towards the end of the show, The Undertaker (who wrestled his final match against Styles) also appeared to declare Styles as the newest inductee of the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Reportedly, Styles wasn’t informed before this moment that he’d be getting into the Hall of Fame.
Also read: AJ Styles Set For WWE Hall Of Fame Induction This Year
So far, only Styles and Stephanie McMahon have been announced as this year’s Hall of Fame inductees. Both of these stars were informed of their HoF induction by The Undertaker, and both times, the stars in question weren’t notified of this beforehand.
Many fans are speculating who will induct AJ Styles into the WWE Hall of Fame. While we don’t know much about it right now, there’s a rumor that WWE wants John Cena to do the honors.
Main image credit: Wikimedia Commons
Ishaan Sharma has been following wrestling ever since he was 8. That was over a decade ago. He loves to write about this pretend sport and has worked with online publications such as Sportskeeda and TheSportster, where he shared his insights about the wrestling business.