AJ Styles Opens Up On Whether He Misses Wrestling

AJ Styles reflects on adapting to life outside the ring after his WWE retirement.

Since retiring from in-ring competition in January 2026, AJ Styles has transitioned into a coaching and scouting role with WWE. This followed a 28-year career across the globe, including a decade-long run with the company. Recently, Styles addressed whether he misses stepping back into the ring.

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Styles admitted that while he misses certain aspects of the excitement that comes with wrestling, he does not miss the physical toll of professional wrestling.

“I don’t miss falling down, I don’t miss getting hurt, I don’t miss any of that, but you’re always going to miss that part of the excitement that you’re about to go to the ring and have a great match. You’re going to miss that, that’s just the high you don’t get from anything else. But again, I get to go down the Performance Center and scratch that itch and just throw myself into helping these performers down at the PC get better.”

-AJ Styles

The career of “The Phenomenal One” featured notable runs in ROH, TNA, and NJPW before joining WWE in 2016, where he became a two-time WWE Champion. Prior to his time with the company, Styles held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship twice and became a five-time world champion in TNA. His son Avery also made his wrestling debut at an independent event this June.

Elsewhere, Styles recently opened up about regretting making Triple H feel awkward over GUNTHER’s involvement in the 2026 Royal Rumble match. You can read more about that here.

As always, we will provide any further news on AJ Styles and WWE as soon as we hear more.