AJ Styles Explains Why Retiring At Royal Rumble Mattered To Him

AJ Styles is standing by his decision to end his in-ring career at the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event, regardless of where the show took place. The 2026 Royal Rumble was held in Saudi Arabia, and it featured Styles facing GUNTHER in a retirement match, with Styles forced to hang up his boots after being choked out.

Styles has since made clear that the significance of bowing out at a Royal Rumble show outweighed any conversation about the location. “I don’t care that it was in Saudi Arabia,” Styles said, emphasizing that the moment itself — closing out his career at one of WWE’s marquee annual events — was what mattered most to him.

The Royal Rumble has long carried extra weight in WWE lore as the show that kicks off the road to WrestleMania, and for a performer of Styles’ stature, ending his run there lines up with a career full of major moments on wrestling’s biggest stages. His loss to GUNTHER wasn’t just a hard-fought main-event-caliber bout; the stipulation guaranteed that whatever happened in that ring would be the final chapter of his active wrestling career.

Styles built his legacy across multiple promotions before becoming a fixture in WWE, and his matches with top stars over the years helped cement his reputation as one of the best in-ring performers of his generation. GUNTHER, for his part, added another notable name to his list of victims in a year where he has continued to establish himself among WWE’s elite in-ring competitors.

While Styles’ comments make clear he has no regrets about the setting of his retirement bout, they also underscore how much value he placed on bowing out during a show with real historical weight in the industry, rather than treating the location as the story. As Styles moves into the next phase of his career outside the ring, the Royal Rumble bout with GUNTHER stands as the definitive final chapter of his wrestling journey.