During a new podcast interview with Stephanie McMahon, AJ Styles has reflected on his loss to Gunther at the 2026 Royal Rumble, where he addressed removing his gloves, which he seemingly intended to leave in the ring, but ultimately put back on amid crowd cheers. In this Styles admitted uncertainty about what many thought was a retirement gesture, saying “never say never,” and mentioned the temptation of tagging with his son someday would likely see him wrestle again.
“Never say never, right? That’s the saying. And you know there’s, I know there’s, I think everybody’s allowed at least once, ‘come out of retirement,’ kind of match. I’m not saying I’ll do it anytime soon … What if my son wrestles? The opportunity to tag with him once? You never know. There’ll be a time when the gloves will never go back on, and it may be now, but we’ll see.” – AJ Styles
48-year-old Styles, real name Allen Jones, had an amazing wrestling career after debuting in 1998. Following a short period in WCW, he would become TNA’s cornerstone, winning five world championships and six X-Division championships as a homegrown talent during the days when the company regularly brought in former WWE talent. Subsequently, he proved his main-event credentials in New Japan, which opened the door to his surprise WWE debut in 2016, which over the next few years established him as one of the all-time great in-ring performers.
