AJ Styles Opens Up On Self-Doubt Before WWE Retirement

AJ Styles says the lead-up to his retirement from in-ring competition brought out a version of himself he barely recognized, admitting that self-doubt consumed him in the weeks before his career-ending match with Gunther.

Speaking on Insight With Chris Van Vliet, Styles reflected on the mental toll of knowing his career was coming to a close. He said he found himself questioning decisions that normally wouldn’t have fazed him at all.

“I’m not saying I didn’t get weird near the end of knowing I was going to retire or leave WWE. I got weird, dude. I just was questioning everything,” Styles said. “A normal, sane AJ Styles would not question this. It would just be what it is.”

One particular sticking point was Gunther’s inclusion in the Royal Rumble match after their previous encounter. Styles admitted he couldn’t initially make sense of it and, looking back, feels he unfairly directed his frustration at Triple H over the situation.

“Even the moment where I found out Gunther was in the Royal Rumble, and I think it had already been explained that he was in the Royal Rumble, and that I got this match, but I was like, what the freak?” Styles said. “I think I made Triple H feel awful about it, oh man, I didn’t think about that.”

With the benefit of hindsight, Styles now recognizes that the perceived issue was never really a big deal to anyone else. “The reality is, nobody thought about that, nobody did, nobody cared, even when Gunther came out at the Royal Rumble and got beat,” he said. “In fact, it should have made more sense that he got beat because he was in the ring with AJ Styles. He got exhausted in that match. Of course he’s not going to win the Royal Rumble.”

Styles also apologized for how he behaved during that emotional stretch. “So I just got weird, man. So my apologies to everyone who I acted that way, and I was just in a weird state of mind,” he said.

Styles retired at the Royal Rumble in January after losing a career-on-the-line match to Gunther in Riyadh, a defeat that saw him tap out to a sleeper hold. The loss extended Gunther’s self-styled “Career Killer” run, which had already claimed victories over John Cena and Goldberg. Fittingly, Styles’s exit came almost exactly a decade after his surprise WWE debut in the 2016 Royal Rumble, closing the loop on one of the most celebrated in-ring journeys in modern wrestling history.

Since hanging up his boots, Styles has stayed within the company in a backstage and ambassador capacity, a role that has kept him close to the product without the physical grind of a full-time schedule.

His candid reflection offers a rare glimpse into just how emotionally taxing a retirement angle can be for a performer who spent decades building trust with both fans and agents behind the scenes. For someone as universally respected as Styles, admitting to that kind of internal turmoil — and owning up to how it affected his relationships backstage — speaks to the genuine difficulty of walking away from a career that defined him. It also underscores how much weight performers can carry into a program that, from the outside, looks like just another storyline beat.

As Styles settles into his new role, it’s clear the emotional chapter of his in-ring career is one he’s still processing, even months removed from that final bout with Gunther.