AJ Styles Reflects On Retirement Match, Not Leaving Gloves In Ring

AJ Styles recently looked back at his retirement match against Gunther at the Royal Rumble. The WWE Hall of Famer retired with a loss to the Ring General at the 2026 Rumble in Saudi Arabia. After the match he teased leaving his gloves in the ring but put them back on, only so he could leave them at his retirement ceremony a few weeks later on Raw.

Styles spoke about the match and facing Gunther on WWE Retrospective. You can see the highlights below:

On Retiring At the Rumble:

“I did know that I wanted to leave The Royal Rumble. I would love to tell you how easy it was. This is where I started, I didn’t care where it was at. It’s still The Royal Rumble, no matter where it’s at. It was a very strange moment walking out, knowing it was going to be your last time. It’s one of those things that — I can’t even explain it to you. I just got — I was weird for a minute, I really was.

“I know you’re like, ‘Well, what’s weird?’ Second guessing everything. Everything that you do, just like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ Your brain’s going a thousand miles an hour now. But now once we step into this ring, I got a job to do. Still, it’s a lot to take in. But I remember also thinking to myself, ‘You’ve got a little bit longer to go.’ Thinking to myself, ‘It’s almost over.’ When the crowd’s making noise, you definitely don’t want that to end.”

On Gunther:

“He’s the perfect heel. A lot of people don’t think they understand that. He’s the perfect heel that you want to be in the ring with… But no, he’s awesome, man. He did a great job; he knows how to be the heel.”

On the Final Moments Of the Match:

“I just remember thinking in this moment, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is almost over.’ You know, he does a good job of getting my hair out of my face too, so you can see my face. That’s a professional. It was good, it was exactly what it should have been. Exactly what it should have been.”

On Not Leaving His Gloves in the Ring:

“I know a lot of people were confused about this moment, but I knew that WWE is gonna be in Atlanta three weeks from this moment. It would have been a good opportunity for me to drop my gloves then. So that’s why.

“Nobody else knew about this except for me. A lot of people were like, ‘Oh, he’s still not — okay, he’s a liar, he’s not going to retire. Typical AJ.’ But one more chance to say goodbye.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.