AJ Styles‘ in-ring career is winding down, and retirement has been firmly on his mind these past few years.
The TNA legend has been in the WWE for the past 7 years, after debuting at the 2016 Royal Rumble match.
He went on to win two WWE Championships, as well as a host of other titles in a Hall of Fame-worthy career in the company.
However, AJ Styles is contemplating retirement, and recently discussed his plans for retiring.
AJ Styles Retiring
Speaking with BT Sports, AJ Styles revealed that he wants to discover up-and-coming talent once he retires from wrestling, but specified that he only wants to find a certain kind of wrestler.
The former WWE and TNA Champion revealed that he wants to find “guys and girls who that want to do this their whole life”, looking for true fans of the business, as opposed to dispassionate athletes.
He also noted that he wants to coach those wrestlers in NXT once he retires, revealing that he wants to stay within the WWE ecosystem past his in-ring wrestling days.
Speaking with BT Sport, AJ Styles said;
“I want to find the guys and girls that want to do this their whole life. We have people that look for athletes and stuff like that, but what about these men and women that want to be a pro wrestler? They know everything about it. They’ve watched every match, and they know what’s expected of them. I want to find them and give them the opportunity to see what they can do.
Once we get these athletes to NXT or whatever, I would love to help coach some of those. There’s a number of things I think I’d like to do within the WWE as long as I have that opportunity.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please HT to Atletifo for the transcription.
Is AJ Styles Retired?
AJ Styles is not yet retired, but is currently facing one of his longest spells outside he ring ever.
The Phenomenal One suffered a broken angle at a house show in December 2022, putting him out of action for a number of months.
This meant that Styles missed both the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 39, and looks to remain out of action for the foreseeable future.
However, his career could not last for much longer.
AJ Styles has revealed to Lillian Garcia on her Clashing Glory podcast that his current deal will be his last as he will retire from wrestling:
“I had no doubt that you know this is what I was going to do for my career. It really was. And you couldn’t have told me any different. And I can tell you that the contract that I signed, here in the WWE, is my last. This is it for me. This is where I’m going to end my career no matter what happens. I got to, you know? I want to be there for my kids.”
The 45 year old currently has two years left on his deal, so we’ll likely see AJ Styles retire soon enough, ending his WWE run with a bang before a move to NXT.