AJ Styles Discusses His Favorite Recent Matches & Moments, What His Match With John Cena Meant To Him

Newly announced WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2026 inductee, AJ Styles, joined Raw Recap this week to discuss his epic match with John Cena at WWE Crown Jewel Perth, his retirement from wrestling, some of his more recent favorite matches and moments, and some talents he didn’t get to wrestle against before his career ended. Below are some highlights:

AJ Styles on Some of His Recent Favorite Matches and Moments

“Of course I have favorite matches and moments, but there are so many, I can’t just throw them out there. Let’s talk about the most recent favorite. Shinsuke Nakamura and myself had an unbelievable match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. I’m probably proud of that match because I know a lot of people didn’t like the first one we had in WWE, so I think we made up for it. The match with John Cena at Crown Jewel in Australia, man, I’m so glad I got to wrestle that guy. [CM] Punk, having that match with him. There’s a lot of matches I didn’t think I’d have the opportunity to have at the end of my career, and I was able to pull off some unbelievable matches and some unbelievable moments.”

On Guys He Never Got the Chance to Wrestle

“You know, there are some guys I wanted to work with, didn’t have a chance to, but I worked with them. Meaning, I tagged with them. Like, I would’ve liked to have been in there with Penta, you know, to go back and forth. So, I’d love to get back into the ring with Chad Gable. I say I’d love that, but here I am retired, so that’s not going to happen. But so many qualified wrestlers that I would love, and the old timers always say this, because I’m one of those guys now, ‘Oh, we would’ve had a great match with that kid.’ There’s so many of those guys here.”

On What His Match With John Cena Meant To Him

“The John Cena match meant — it was two guys who had wrestled a lot of different people, and brung it all together to bring tribute to professional wrestling. It was everybody that we loved and idolized and had friendships with who we got to pay homage to.”

On When He Knew His Matches Were Going To Be His Last

“I was looking back as far as — Well, I knew after WrestleMania, those were the last matches I was going to have. After WrestleMania, it was Logan [Paul] and whoever else I got the opportunity to be in the ring with. Fortunate for me, it was having a tag team partner in Dragon Lee.”

The Undertaker announced Styles as the latest Hall of Fame inductee on last night’s WWE Raw. Styles will be inducted into the Class of 2026 during WrestleMania Week in April.

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Raw Recap, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.