Heartbreak for AJ Styles as WWE Career Ends After a Brutal Gunther Whipping at Royal Rumble 2026

AJ Styles has officially retired from WWE in-ring competition after his loss to Gunther at the Royal Rumble.

Heartbreak for AJ Styles as WWE Career Ends After a Brutal Gunther Whipping at Royal Rumble 2026

Gunther passed out AJ Styles at Royal Rumble 2026 [via- WWE]

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January 31, 2026, was all she wrote for AJ Styles. That date is going to haunt ‘The Phenomenal One’ for a long time, as it’s etched in history as the final night of Styles’ illustrious WWE career. Yesterday at the Royal Rumble, the former Bullet Club leader went full steam against a man who had retired the likes of Goldberg and John Cena last year—Gunther.

AJ knew oh-so-well that he might be next. But he still agreed to put his career on the line. The match was as physical as they come. Gunther put a little extra behind almost every chop that wrecked Styles’ chest.

‘The Ring General’ displayed unreal but expected resilience by kicking out of a 450 splash followed by the Styles Clash. ‘The Face That Runs the Place’ had developed a gash on his left forearm early into the match that painted the canvas red in spots.

Despite the nasty cut, the 48-year-old didn’t get his foot off the gas pedal. ‘The Georgia Pitbull’ couldn’t land the Phenomenal Forearm on ‘The Ring General’ as he got caught on the landing into a sleeper hold, which eventually put Styles away. Even though the former 2-time WWE Champion softened up Gunther’s left leg with the calf crusher, the former Imperium leader found a way out of it.

The Vienna-born wrestler, however, was relentless with the sleeper hold. While AJ tried his best to get out of the predicament by placing some elbows on both legs of the Austrian, the latter managed to suck the air out of AJ’s lungs. The closing sequence saw Styles being tantalizingly close to grabbing the bottom rope to get out of the clutches of Gunther. But it didn’t happen.

Styles was done for and ultimately passed out to bring an end to his WWE career. After Gunther rolled out of the ring, AJ Styles woke up in disbelief, not exactly realizing what had happened. The match referee, Dan Eangler, talked it into ‘The Phenomenal One’ that he had lost. Not a single fan in the stadium could believe it either.

Once it actually dawned on AJ, he stood in the middle of the ring for a while with the entire stadium rumbling with “AJ Styles” and “Thank You AJ” chants. The former IWGP Champion even tried leaving his gloves in the ring, but the crowd vehemently chanted against it.

Styles listened to the people and put them back on to do his signature pose before exiting. It made several believe that they might see Styles wrestle somewhere else sooner than later.

Triple H comments on AJ Styles’ WWE career ending at the Royal Rumble

WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque had a lot to say about AJ Styles during the Royal Rumble post-show. ‘The Game’ revealed that Styles had informed him about his decision to wrap up his in-ring career. Levesque outlined where AJ’s head was at with him pushing 50. ‘The Cerebral Assassin’ affirmed that Styles wanted to ride off into the sunset before he couldn’t do it anymore.

Triple H speaks on AJ Styles' WWE retirement
Triple H speaks on AJ Styles’ WWE retirement [via- WWE]

The Jacksonville-born wrestler had previously stated on The Undertaker‘s podcast that bowing out of this business on one’s own terms is such a privilege that many others haven’t had in the past. He also hoped for the fans to understand the decision that he had made and support him in this journey.

Circling back to Triple H in the aforementioned conversation, he said that he’s had talks with Styles about contributing more to WWE in a backstage role. ‘The King of Kings’ also admitted that he was keenly aware of AJ Styles’ talent back when the latter was in TNA.

Hunter wanted to bring the 48-year-old to WWE long before it happened in 2016 in the Royal Rumble match. And a decade later, he retired from WWE at the same event. How poetic? Last year, Fightful reported that Styles’ WWE deal was up in February 2026.

It would be interesting to see if ‘The Phenomenal One’ would remain with WWE in an off-camera role or not.

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