AJ Styles retired from in-ring competition when he was defeated by Gunther at the Royal Rumble, but since then there’s been a lot of speculation regarding The Phenomenal One’s future.
During Raw this week Styles insisted that he’s a man of his word as he took his gloves off and left them in the ring. The Undertaker then announced that AJ Styles will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.
Styles recently appeared on the Talk’n Shop podcast and he directly addressed rumors that WWE is inducting him into the Hall of Fame to prevent him from going to AEW.
“Let me give you something to talk about. Everybody wants to say, ‘Oh, WWE put him in the Hall of Fame so he couldn’t go to AEW.’ Guys, I’m retired from wrestling in the ring. That’s all this is. I make my own choices. I make my own decisions. I was ready.
There’s a time where, you know, I’ve said this before, and I think Nattie put it in her book where she talks about staying at the table too long. You’ve got to beat the house. I beat the house, man, because I was on the verge of staying at the table too long.”