AJ Styles Confirms He’s Planning To Retire ‘Within The Next Year’

Styles speaks candidly about his future.

AJ Styles is in the midst of his 26th year as an in-ring performer. In past media appearances, he’s spoken about the idea of retirement and feeling like he’d be wrapping up in the near future.

Styles put a timeline on that as he was being interviewed by Tokyo Sports. WWE is returning to Japan in October, and Styles is advertised for the shows. He stated that he plans on retiring within the next year.

“I’m really excited. I think this will probably be my last match in Japan, so I’m really looking forward to it. I plan to retire soon, and I might not come back to Japan before that.

I’ll probably be at WrestleMania, but it’s not confirmed yet. The details are still undecided, but I will definitely retire within the next year. I don’t want to show my fans a side of me that isn’t AJ Styles. That’s the main reason. I’ve decided to retire before my body can no longer move.”

As for post-retirement plans, Styles said the following:

“I haven’t decided yet, but I think I’ll probably work for WWE. It might be good to help develop young talent into main roster-caliber wrestlers. But I just don’t know yet.”

NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi is going to retire in 2026, and Styles said he definitely wants to share the ring with Tanahashi again, but is not sure it’ll happen.

“Tana is truly a great wrestler. I don’t think many have contributed as much to the industry as he has. I was truly honored to have wrestled him.

I still want it 1,000 percent (Styles said about another match with Tanahashi). But given our respective positions, I don’t know if it’ll happen. It may be difficult to fight him again, but I want to see his retirement match. Rather than thinking about who the opponent is, I feel that this position is something that has to be earned… We are both on the path to retirement, but this is truly a happy thing. In pro wrestling, your body getting wrecked is part of the deal. Just being able to have a retirement match is a huge blessing.”

Styles was last in action on television on the 9/8 Monday Night Raw, and he scored a win over El Grande Americano. Styles and Dragon Lee are teaming up on the 9/29 Raw to face Los Americanos.