Additional Details on AJ Styles’ WWE Retirement Before WrestleMania 42 After Shinsuke Nakamura’s Deleted Note for Him

The end seems near in regard to AJ Styles' time as an active wrestler in WWE.

Additional Details on AJ Styles’ WWE Retirement Before WrestleMania 42 After Shinsuke Nakamura’s Deleted Note for Him

AJ Styles' WWE career might be over very soon [via- WWE]

It has started to sink in that AJ Styles might really hang up his wrestling boots this weekend at the Royal Rumble. ‘The Phenomenal One’ is slated to put his career on the line against Gunther. The latter wasn’t high on this rematch due to the absence of any incentive to it.

The former Imperium leader, however, asked the 48-year-old to risk it all. Styles mulled over the proposal and informed the Raw GM, Adam Pearce, about his decision to agree to what Gunther had asked of him.

When it was made official, the majority of fans were convinced that ‘Mr. TNA’ would definitely get his lick back on the Austrian after he dastardly edged past AJ in their singles match on Raw in Germany two weeks ago.

However, PWInsider said it was notified months ago that Styles was likely finishing up his career before this year’s WrestleMania, with the Royal Rumble being one of the destinations. Yesterday, after wrestling their hearts out at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Shinsuke Nakamura, who couldn’t put away AJ Styles, posted a heartfelt note on Instagram that he had written a day before their match.

‘The King of Strong Style’ revealed that ‘The Face That Runs the Place’ had already informed him about retiring from WWE at the 2026 Royal Rumble PLE. It was around the time they were in Japan for WWE’s live event loop over there. AJ knew it was his last time in the country where he started his journey as a professional wrestler.

The former Bullet Club leader wanted to express his gratitude to every single fan who accepted him with open arms at a time when Styles was both anxious and excited about what the future held. ‘The Georgia Pitbull’ beat Kofi Kingston in his last match in Japan and got warmly greeted by the likes of CM Punk and Shinsuke Nakamura afterwards. Shin also read a note from AJ for the fans in Japanese.

Nakamura quickly deleted the aforementioned diary he posted on his social media after WWE possibly asked him to do so, as it had basically spoiled that AJ Styles is now going to lose to Gunther in Riyadh. Speaking of Nakamura’s impromptu match with Styles at SNME in Montreal, Shin asked for it because he wanted to wrestle his great rival one more time before the latter bowed out.

Massive push on social media for CM Punk to be AJ Styles’ opponent on tonight’s Raw

Tonight on Raw in Toronto, AJ Styles will address Gunther ahead of his career-threatening match at the Royal Rumble. Since it’s possibly going to be the last time fans will see ‘The Phenomenal One’ on the red brand, there’s a massive push on social media with the fans asking WWE to book a singles match between the outgoing legend and CM Punk. They have never had a televised singles match in WWE.

CM Punk going for the elbow drop on AJ Styles
CM Punk going for the elbow drop on AJ Styles [via- WWE]

The closest these veterans came to it was in a triple-threat match last year in June when El Grande Americano stole the victory and his Money in the Bank ladder match spot. Styles and Punk recently teamed up during a live event in Belgium, where they beat Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. After the match, ‘The Phenomenal One’ handed over the World Heavyweight title to ‘The Second City Saint’.

That picture went viral on social media, and it made fans yearn for Punk vs. Styles more than ever before. Considering that the former IWGP Champion is indeed calling it quits to his WWE career at the Royal Rumble, which would be a decade from his debut in the company, tonight’s Raw is remotely the last chance to get done with a showdown between Styles and Punk.

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