AJ Styles Confirms Retirement Plans: “I Will Not Wrestle to 50”

AJ Styles has acknowledged that his in-ring career is winding down, revealing that he does not plan to wrestle much longer.

The 47-year-old WWE star appeared on Insight with Chris Van Vliet and stated that he intends to retire before turning 50. He also shared that he has a storyline idea in mind to build toward his final match.

"I will not wrestle to 50, I promise you that," Styles stated during the interview.

Van Vliet praised Styles for maintaining his in-ring performance, suggesting that he has not lost a step. However, Styles disagreed.

"I think I hide it very well," he responded. "Things aren't as easy as they used to be. The first thing you lose as you get older is your stamina. That is the first thing to go. You still got that power, but the stamina..."

Despite acknowledging the physical toll of wrestling, Styles made it clear that he is not fearful of retirement.

"I am not afraid of retirement. I think it is going to be great once I get there and can say, ‘Phew, I did it.’ But for me, it is doing it correctly. The retirement, doing it correctly, something that I am confident in like, ‘That was it, that was the one.’ I hope that is what The Undertaker felt."

Styles hinted at a specific idea for his retirement storyline, though he chose not to disclose the details.

"It is a final match, but it is the story that led up to it, I think, I hope," he explained.

While he has no specific opponent in mind, Styles did reveal that he once had an idea involving The Undertaker.

"No opponent in mind. An idea that I will not share with you that I thought if I could get The Undertaker in the ring with me, that I wanted to do. But there is an idea there that I think kind of sums up who AJ Styles is. We will see if it happens. You will know it if it does, but we will have to wait and see."

Styles recently made his in-ring return at the Men’s Royal Rumble last month, competing in his first match in nearly four months after being sidelined with a foot injury. The injury occurred in October during a match against Carmelo Hayes on Raw. He was also featured on last night’s edition of Raw, where he vowed to call out Logan Paul on next week’s show at Madison Square Garden.

The full interview with Chris Van Vliet is available to watch below.