AJ Styles Talks Retirement Plans & WWE Future: “I Will Not Wrestle At 50”

AJ Styles appeared on the latest episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, where he discussed a variety of topics, including his career longevity and his goal of not wrestling past the age of 50. Styles, who turns 48 in June, reflected on his future in the industry.

Having competed at the highest level in WWE, TNA, ROH, and NJPW, Styles has built a Hall of Fame-worthy career. Since joining WWE in 2016, he has cemented himself as a top star, capturing two WWE Championships, three United States Championships, as well as the Intercontinental and Raw Tag Team titles.

As he nears 50, Styles is carefully considering the next steps in his career.

Here are the highlights:

On whether he has thought about how much longer he will wrestle:“I’ve thought about it a lot, much more than I should have. I should have known what I was doing by now. But it’s so hard because you enjoy it so much and I enjoy being around my friends. Don’t get me wrong, I love being at home, but the opportunity to see them and see them doing well, seeing them smile, and seeing them grow. Some of these guys like Roman for instance, his selling is on a different level. Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, all these guys, they stepped up. If Roman stepped up, they stepped up with him. I just thought that was so impressive that they do that, and seeing them grow into these amazing Superstars. Gunther losing all that weight to get to where he’s at now as the Heavyweight Champion, it’s freaking awesome. Cody, seeing where he’s at and what he had to go through to get to where he was at, and what he’s doing now is at that position, he’s the guy. He puts the work in. It’s really cool to see those guys hustle as much as they are and beat themselves up as much as they have, and still do well. I like seeing that.”

On not wrestling in his 50s:“That’s correct. I keep saying that. I’ve said this and said this, but I will not wrestle at 50, I promise you that.”

On whether he has a final opponent in mind:“Nope, no opponent in mind. An idea that I will not share with you that I thought if I could get Undertaker to get in the ring with me, that I wanted to do. But there’s an idea there that I think kind of sums up who AJ Styles is, and we’ll see if it happens. You’ll know it if it does.”