Back in 2016, AJ Styles made his WWE debut at the Royal Rumble, and he recently wrapped up his in-ring career at the Royal Rumble premium live event in January when he was defeated by Gunther in a career threatening match.
While talking about his decision to retire at the Royal Rumble on Raw Recap, AJ Styles said that he felt it was poetic to end his WWE career at the event where he made his debut.
“It was coming back from an injury to WrestleMania to a match that, to me, didn’t have much build. WrestleMania, I’m sorry to say, used to be the most prestigious PLE, but to me, it’s kind of lost its luster a little bit. As far as the Royal Rumble, that’s special to me because that’s where I made my debut. To be able to end where I started is poetic.”
The Phenomenal One appeared on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw and he gave a heartfelt retirement speech in front of the fans in Atlanta, GA. After AJ delivered his speech The Undertaker made his way down to the ring to announce that Styles will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2026 class.
It seems that WWE already has a major name in mind when it comes to a potential inductor for AJ Styles and you can get more details on that here.