AJ Styles may be retiring from WWE within a few years. Don’t get mad at me for writing it. I don’t like it either, but it’s a reality because Styles is 40 years old. After 20 years of professional wrestling, the man himself knows that his career is nearly over.
As the current WWE Champion, Styles is coming off a — I have to use this word — phenomenal showing against Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. It was the match of the night for a lot of people, and probably Lesnar’s best singles match since his SummerSlam 2013 match against CM Punk. Styles also had Jinder Mahal’s best match when he beat him for the WWE Title a few weeks ago in Manchester, England too.
Styles is the best wrestler in WWE, and likely in the world, and I don’t think many people would disagree with that right now.
During an interview with 97.9 The Box in Houston ahead of Survivor Series, Styles talked about his plans for the future.
“Work hard now, you enjoy it later. In a couple of years, I’ll be able to catch every football game, every baseball game, every basketball game, cheerleading, gymnastics, whatever they’re in.”
Styles has been married to his wife Wendy for 17 years and the couple has four kids together (three boys and a girl) between the ages of three and twelve. Working a full-time schedule in WWE means being on the road four to five days a week, on average, so it’s not easy on a guy with a young family. Styles also mentioned having to discipline his kids over the phone, which isn’t easy.
Dave Meltzer noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that in the past when they had Styles as a guest (before he signed with WWE in 2016), Styles noted that he was hoping to retire from wrestling when he was 42 years old. Styles turned 40 in June of this year, so if he sticks to that plan, that means he could be done in two years. Meltzer added that Styles is “making a ton of money right now” and when you’re doing that well, the lure of wrestling one more year or several more years is pretty great.
Another name Meltzer mentioned is Randy Orton, who gets some weekends off with a reduced schedule and he’s happy with it, so perhaps Styles could get a compromise on his next deal.
If you’re wondering when Styles’ WWE contract is up, Meltzer mentioned it would be in early 2019. That means Styles likely signed a three-year deal when he joined the company in January 2016.
The thought of Styles being done in WWE in less than two years is awful, but I hope they can come to some agreement when his deal is done. Perhaps he can work a schedule where he only does live events one or two weekends per months and then work the TV and PPV of whatever brand he is on. During Shawn Michaels’ return run from 2002 to 2010 he didn’t work many house shows. It was just Raw and PPV matches most of the time. Michaels retired when he was 45.
If Styles wants to slow down as a full timer at age 42 it makes sense, but I hope he can keep wrestling a few more years on a reduced schedule.
You can watch AJ’s interview alongside Drew McIntyre in the clip below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOHH55TISc0
