AJ Styles appeared to close the book on his WWE career earlier this year, but Bully Ray is not convinced the “Phenomenal One” has wrestled his final match.
Styles competed in what was announced as his final match at the Royal Rumble in 2026 and has since been revealed as part of this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class. During a recent appearance on WWE Raw in his home state of Georgia, Styles also left his gloves and jacket in the ring, a traditional signal of retirement.
However, speaking on Busted Open Radio, Bully Ray said he believes the door is still open for Styles to wrestle again.
“He didn’t definitively say anything,” Bully said. “I still stand by what I said a couple of weeks ago: I do not think AJ Styles has wrestled his last match. There’s no way in hell that AJ Styles is done-done.”
Bully Ray also questioned whether the moment where Styles left his gloves in the ring was always the plan following the Royal Rumble.
“They needed to do that because there were too many conversations going on there as to what could be next for AJ,” Bully explained, suggesting there is still strong interest in seeing Styles compete again.
According to Bully Ray, WWE may have wanted to create a clear closing moment for Styles’ time with the company while still leaving options open for the future.
“I think the WWE, while AJ was still under contract, said, ‘We need to do this show and we need to close the door on AJ as much as we can possibly close the door,’” he said. “Maybe even behind the scenes they’re like, ‘Listen, if you ever get the itch to go someplace else, please call us first.’”
Bully also noted that if Styles truly intended to retire immediately after the Royal Rumble, he could have left his gloves in the ring that night instead of waiting for his later television appearance.
“He made it a point to go right to the question. Everybody’s saying ‘why?’ They needed to put a period or an exclamation point,” Bully said.
While Bully Ray believes Styles’ WWE career may now be finished, he suggested the veteran star could still have one final run elsewhere. Styles previously built his legacy in promotions such as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and in Japan before joining WWE.
Bully even floated the idea of Styles returning to another promotion for a final dream program. One potential matchup he mentioned would be a rivalry with Will Ospreay, even without a storyline attached.
Do you think AJ Styles truly had his final match at the Royal Rumble, or could you see him stepping back into the ring for one last run in another promotion?
