AJ Styles Calls Fan's AEW Claim ‘Dumbest Thing Ever’

The 48-year-old penned a one-year extension last summer and confirmed he intended to call time on his career in 2026. No specific date has been given for the Phenomenal One's official retirement.

Styles has never competed in AEW, where some of his friends wrestle, including the Young Bucks. A large section of the pro wrestling fanbase has wanted to see him join Tony Khan's promotion, but he has stayed with WWE since arriving in January 2016.

A fan suggested that he made a mistake sticking with WWE:

"Should have finished with the AEW run. He chose the WWE money."

Styles responded to this on X:

"I’ll take dumbest things to ever have been said for 100 Alex."

Styles could be handed a similar retirement tour as John Cena, who ended his career in December after tapping out to Gunther. The Ring General looks to be the frontrunner to be his final opponent, given recent interactions between the pair on WWE RAW.

The TNA legend is a two-time WWE world champion and has cemented his legacy as one of the best wrestlers of all time. Cena thinks he is the best in-ring performer in history, and as such, some fans had wanted to see him lock horns with some of AEW's top talent.

Matt Jackson: AJ Styles Nearly Joined AEW

AEW Dynamite's debut episode on TNT took place in October 2019, and it was a momentous show. Khan was starting to poach some of the world's best wrestlers.

Executive Vice Presidents Nick and Matt Jackson had attempted to bring Styles to the company at the time. There were even plans for him to debut on the episode alongside his Bullet Club stablemates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

Matt revealed during a conversation with Gallows and Anderson on the Talk'n Shop podcast in 2020:

"When were pitching ideas to have you guys [Anderson and Gallows] come in, it was not going to be just the two of you [debuting on AEW]. There was going to be another person who I would not name. Let us just say he's another Bullet Club member you may not want to talk about."

WWE caught wind of AEW trying to prise Styles away from the promotion and offered him a lucrative five-year contract. Matt added that Styles thanked them for getting him more money:

"The first guy in this conversation [AJ Styles] buzzed us and said, 'I just got too good of an offer [from WWE] and I would have never got that money without you guys' offer. So, I want to thank you."

Styles and the Young Bucks share a close bond from their time together in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) as the Bullet Club. Styles was the faction's leader, and Kenny Omega was also part of the group, which will go down as one of the greatest stables in history.