AJ Styles’ career came to a potential end tonight against Gunther. Following the Royal Rumble, Triple H offered up an update to what the future holds for Styles.
At the Royal Rumble, Gunther added to his “legend killer” resume by defeating AJ Styles in a match. The stipulation of the match made it so that Styles had to retire if he lost. The final moments of the match saw Gunther lock Styles in a choke hold, and as many do to him, Styles passed out from it.
Following the match, Styles seemed ready to leave his gear in the middle of the ring. However, at the last minute, he changed his mind, putting his gloves back on as the crowd roared. In a post-show talk with WWE, Triple H reflected on Styles’ future and what it might hold. According to the legend, Styles told him he was “done” with in-ring activity, but not necessarily wrestling.
Triple H teases potential coaching future for AJ Styles
“We’ve had a lot of conversations on the off-chance when this all came down. Obviously, we expected it later in the year. We had a lot of conversations about it. AJ is one of those people that absolutely wants to give back and be a part of this business,” said Triple H. “I don’t want to speak for him, but the conversations that he had with me, he made it very clear that he was just done with the in-ring. There’s a point when you just reach in your career where you say, I don’t want to do this anymore, and when your heart goes, no matter how good you are — he hasn’t lost a step, at anything — but when you just say, I’m just at a place when I don’t wanna do this anymore, it’s time.”
Triple H echoed what WWE said during the broadcast. Mainly, that Styles’ decision to retire came before he had the chance to look worse in the ring or get hurt. Triple H also left the door open for Styles to remain on with the company in a coaching capacity, and compared the opportunity to something Shawn Michaels does with NXT.
“Before you get hurt, before you get told you’re not allowed to do this anymore. I think he was there,” Triple H said. “I’m hoping that he will contribute, because again, he’s one of the most influential people in the business and one of the greatest minds in the business and I think when you see somebody like what Shawn Michaels is doing in NXT, I think that’s a path and a career for AJ Styles, beyond this period that he’s in.”
READ MORE: WWE Royal Rumble Results: Review, Grades, Card For Jan 31
