Back at the Royal Rumble in January, AJ Styles finally made his debut in WWE and it was something that fans had wanted for years. He was instantly put in a feud with Chris Jericho which went through WrestleMania 32 , and then he entered a program with Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Now, he’s already talking about when he may retire, and it isn’t as far away as some may think, or is it?
Ever since arriving in WWE from New Japan Pro Wrestling, (NJPW), Styles has been in a major spotlight and fans couldn’t be happier about that. He had wrestled his way around the world but never happened to be a major part of Vince McMahon’s corporate wrestling giant until this year.
Now, he’s had a big-time match on WrestleMania and headlined the last two pay-per-view events as he chased the WWE Title.
Styles recently did an interview with Rolling Stonewhere he spoke on a number of topics including being surprisedthat he landed in the main event scene so quickly. He spoke of wanting to work even harder now so he can stay where he is at and prove to everyone that he deserves to be there.
The last two months, AJ Styles has had a lot of matches and encounters with Roman Reigns. While many may give the current WWE Champion a lot of flack, he has earned the respect of the former TNA and NJPW World Champion.
“Absolutely. I think he’s a better athlete than a lot of people realize. He should get a lot more credit for his athleticism. He’s unbelievable, he can do a lot of stuff. I think he’s been able to showcase that with me. We’re doing something right – I don’t think people gave Roman a chance; in fact. I think a lot of fans jumped on the bandwagon when someone started booing, instead of taking the chance to see what he could do in the ring.”
Styles knows that Reigns gets a lot of flack, but he’s been happy to work with him in WWE and hopes that the fans soon realize how good he actually is.
So far, Styles has only been involved with Reigns, Jericho, The Usos, and The Club during his four months in WWE, but that’s only the beginning. He just recently had a match with Kevin Owens and has had run-ins with a few other superstars, but there is so much more ahead of him.
Stars like Randy Orton and other big-time talents have stated that they would like to work with AJ Styles, but the new WWE star is already 38-years-old. Does he have time to really make all these dream feuds come to life before he’s ready to retire from wrestling?
According to “The Phenomenal One,” retirement isn’t nearly as close as some may think. Actually, he’s not even really sure how close it may be.
“No. I know that retirement will be in a couple years. I don’t know how many a couple is at this point, but the ultimate goal is the opportunity to retire [and then] do something else you’re interested in. There’s a lot of guys who have retired and went into podcasts or TV shows, so there’s other things out there. But also you want to spend time with your family, because when you’re in WWE you’re gonna work for your money, and I expect to do that. But that means you’ll be on the road a little more and might miss some things at home, but you get to make that up by retiring and being with them 24/7 – which might annoy them to a certain degree.”
As far as retirement, it’s known that many superstars who retire from the ring, end up staying on with WWE in a backstage position of some kind. Styles said that he is “pleasantly surprised at how everything works here.” He said he would love to stay on to be a trainer or agent once his time in the ring is over.
Any superstars who are learning and trying to make it big in NXT would benefit greatly from being trained by someone like AJ Styles.
If AJ Styleswas going to retire anytime soon, WWE likely wouldn’t have ended up signing him at all. They want to get the most out of their big-time star, and it’s quite possible that Styles is going to keep wrestling well into his 40s, and that’s what WWE is hoping happens. He’s already worked with Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns, but there are so many other possible feuds to put together and “The Phenomenal One” is going to be around long enough for them to become a reality.
[Image via WWE]