AJ Styles retiring at WWE Royal Rumble? Huge update

Nakamura's post has now been deleted, but his comments have been followed up by several reports confirming Styles' intentions to end his career at the Rumble. It seems the Japanese star let slip plans for the Styles-Gunther match.

Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Live that the plan has been for Gunther to win: "It was legit in the sense Styles did tell him he was finishing up at the Rumble. It wasn’t a planted story so they can say they fooled the Internet. That doesn’t mean they can’t change it but to do so Gunther would have to lose, and that was not the plan."

Styles confirmed he'd be retiring in 2026 when he spoke at SummerSlam last year, but he didn't give an official date for his retirement. Having Gunther defeat him would have come as somewhat of a shock for some before these plans came to light.

Gunther beat John Cena at Saturday Night's Main Event in December, but it was already known that the 17-time world champion was wrestling his last match. It will be intriguing to see whether Nakamura's post and the information that has come out lead to a U-turn.

AJ Styles Should Retire at WrestleMania 42

If WWE and Styles decide that a loss to Gunther at the Rumble doesn't have as much surprise element anymore, then they could find a way to get around the Ring General losing. That could be someone interfering and inadvertently costing him the match, or a false finish through disqualification.

Styles' retirement at WrestleMania 42 makes sense, given WWE can build an even bigger story for the event. There's no doubt Gunther is the ideal choice to end the Phenomenal One's career as he continues his streak of retiring legends.

But talk of Styles retiring at the Rumble came as somewhat of a surprise, given recent reports suggested he was likely to compete in TNA one more time. That is still a possibility if a different outcome than a Gunther win occurs in Saudi Arabia next Saturday.