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AJ Styles: I retired so ‘I don’t embarrass myself’

Posted: Feb 28th 2026 By: Vincent Verhei

One reason AJ Styles has hung up his gloves: He wanted to go out while he could still deliver in the ring.

On WWE’s Raw Recap with Sam Roberts and Megan Morant, Styles was asked why this was the right time to retire. “I mean, now is the right time to retire so I don’t make a fool out of myself, so I don’t embarrass myself,” he said. “I’m on the verge of doing just that. Now’s the time. It’s not easy, mind you, but it’s the time.”
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Styles was also asked about retiring in another promotion, and he reminded everyone that he almost never ended up in WWE in the first place. “Here’s the crazy thing: Had TNA offered me the deal that I had, I would have stayed there,” he said. “So there was that. I was proud of the fact that I helped make a company. I wanted to be there. But, as things would have it, here I am in WWE and I’m grateful for it.”

Styles was part of the first match in TNA history, teaming with Jerry Lynn and Low-Ki in a losing effort against the Flying Elvises of Jimmy Yang & Jorge Estrada & Sonny Siaki. His last match in the promotion was a loss to Magnus (now known as Nick Aldis on WWE SmackDown) in a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match in December of 2013. He has famously said that the contract he was offered at the time would have come with an enormous pay cut.