The 10 year WWE contract of AJ Styles lapsed during the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event of 2026, in which he lost to GUNTHER. There was a grave provisional thereupon: that defeat might mean a forfeiture of the right to compete in-ring on the part of Styles.
Following the incident, Jonathan Coachman called Styles on Off The Ropes and discussed with him, his childhood life in the WWE with his longtime friend Karl Anderson. Anderson gave a insight into their perception by people when they were first introduced, Luke Gallows and Styles.
Early WWE Perceptions
He is no full born and bred WWE guy. Maybe they look at it that way. I don’t know. I will tell you this much: This is so, fact. At the time we arrived in 2016, I heard this of us, simply through the grapevine, ‘You see, Gallows and Anderson are utility guys. We will go at it that, and say what thou hast to say of us. Nothing annoys me and they said, and AJ Styles is a mid-level Intercontinental guy and we will leave him there. I had heard that was the word of him. He found himself entering there and he conquered Vince (McMahon), and they placed the championship on him and they could clearly see what AJ Styles was. When the management is changed the things change and you can trace back where AJ slips back where he is. I believe that the entire world understands that AJ Styles deserves to be in that headliner, that Heavyweight Championship level position.
Anderson also considered the build-up to the last match of Styles, having said that he would be left without a career in WWE in case of a defeat. After the Royal Rumble, Chief Content Officer of WWE Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque stated that Styles informed him that he was retired in the ring.
The buildup was brought into the next Monday Night Raw on February 2 when GUNTHER mocked Styles, by walking out to his classic theme, to show how intense the feud was even after Styles had retired.
The legacy of AJ Styles to WWE includes the number of championship wins and memorable moments, and the comments by Anderson help to understand how perceptions can change in the world of professional wrestling with time.
