Major Doubts Cast Over AJ Styles' WWE Retirement At Royal Rumble 2026 (WWE News)
Will AJ Styles actually kiss goodbye to his WWE career at Royal Rumble?!
AJ Styles has recently filed to trademark both “The Phenomenal AJ Styles” and the “P1” logo that he’s used for years. That's raised a few eyebrows heading into his stipulated (possible) retirement match vs. Gunther at this weekend's Royal Rumble PLE over in Saudi Arabia.
Now, some are wondering if AJ is preparing for life after WWE.
The legendary star did announce his intentions to call it a career in 2026 late-last year, but most expected that farewell would come after a string of highly-emotional matches against some of the company's best. On social media, fans and critics alike are speculating that Gunther could very well defeat Styles in Riyadh and send him tumbling off the Raw roster and right out of WWE.
A jump to AEW has been discussed informally by fans for years, but AJ has always seemed happy enough where he is. Of course, this Saturday's show marks a whopping 10 years since he memorably debuted in front of a very confused Roman Reigns during the 2016 Rumble match.
Styles went on to make his mark in WWE, calling SmackDown "the house that AJ Styles built" and winning the coveted WWE Title twice. He's also held the Intercontinental Title 2x, the United States belt 3x, and has enjoyed 2 World Tag Title reigns as well.
It'd still be considered a huge shocker if Styles tapped out to wrestling machine Gunther at Royal Rumble, but stranger things have definitely happened. So, is this trademarking business a mere formality that'd normally be done privately but is useful in terms of sowing seeds of doubt, or is there more to it?
We're about to find out.