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AJ Styles feels WWE WrestleMania has ‘lost its luster a little bit’

Posted: Feb 25th 2026 By: Joseph Currier

AJ Styles feels WWE WrestleMania has lost some of its prestige over the years.

In a Q&A on WWE’s Raw Recap podcast, Styles was asked why he chose to retire at the Royal Rumble instead of holding out a few months to end his career at WrestleMania. Going out at the Rumble was “poetic” to Styles given that it’s the same pay-per-view where he made his WWE debut in 2016. Plus, Styles feels that WrestleMania isn’t quite what it used to be.

“WrestleMania, listen, I’m sorry to say, used to be the most prestigious PLE or pay-per-view, whatever you want to call it. But to me, it’s kind of lost its luster a little bit,” Styles said. “But as far as the Royal Rumble, well that’s special to me. Because that’s where I made my debut. So to be able to end where I started, that’s poetic.”

A special tribute to Styles took place on Raw last night. The show was held in his hometown of Atlanta and included appearances by some names from Styles’ past, including Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Frankie Kazarian, and Abyss. It concluded with the announcement that Styles will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this April.

In the Raw Recap Q&A, Styles named Penta and Chad Gable as opponents he would have liked to face if he extended his career longer. But Styles chose to retire now before he reached a point where he was embarrassing himself in the ring. When asked if he has any final words for the audience, Styles delivered the following message:

“I’ve said this for two decades and I mean it: AJ Styles would have been nothing without the fans.”