That all brings us to the present day, and unlike John Cena, who had nearly all of 2025 dedicated to his retirement run, Styles has quietly been having a stellar retirement run of his own.

Styles is worshipped like a God in France, of all places, as he is routinely serenaded by the audience whenever he goes there. He got to travel back to Japan to have a dream match with Naomichi Marufuji in Pro Wrestling NOAH, and he even made a long awaited return to TNA at Slammiversary 2025 to pass the ceremonial torch of the X-Division to Leon Slater, who currently reigns as the TNA X-Division Champion. In WWE, he’s been able to run it back with old rivals like Shinsuke Nakamura and John Cena, he had gold around his waist as recently as the final week of 2025 alongside Dragon Lee as one half of the WWE World Tag Team Champions, and even attempted to have one final run at the top by facing CM Punk for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on “WWE Raw” in January 2026.

Now all that’s left is “The Ring General,” Gunther. A man who has beaten Styles one-on-one this year, and considering he was the man to retire John Cena, he’s got a taste for killing careers, and Styles is next on his list. There is every chance that Styles wins this Saturday, or loses and continues wrestling somewhere else like TNA, NJPW, or even somewhere he’s never been like AEW, but if this Saturday is the end, what a journey it has been.

From tagging along with some old friends to a wrestling school to hold up his end of an agreement, to becoming one of the greatest performers the wrestling business has ever seen, there will never be anyone quite as phenomenal as AJ Styles.