In less than a few days, AJ Styles is set to battle his potential retirement match against Gunther at the 2026 Royal Rumble PLE in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fresh off his victories against Goldberg and John Cena, “The Ring General” now looks forward to retiring Styles.
However, ahead of their match, WWE legend Booker T came out with a bold claim on Styles' possible retirement match. Speaking on The Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T claimed Styles deserves to retire in the USA and not Saudi Arabia.
“You know what? AJ [Styles] is not that type of guy. I mean, he could be, I could be wrong, but AJ is gonna have his last match here in the States. He’s not gonna have his last match in Saudi Arabia. It’s not gonna happen. I mean, you can book it like that if you want.
“You know what? I mean, it might be good for booking thoughts, but I don’t think AJ Styles, a guy who is American-made, you know, had so many great matches, so many guys, so many, you know, those TNA guys, that’s not gonna happen,” Booker T finished.
Just days before his potential final in-ring match, Styles also fought in two highly acclaimed matches against CM Punk and Shinsuke Nakamura, the latter of whom also possibly spoiled Styles' final match.
Why Booker T believes AJ Styles will have his final match in the USA
Speaking further on the Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T opened up in detail and explained why he believes “The Phenomenal One” will wrestle his final match in the USA and not in the KSA.
“I’d be shocked just because of the reasons I just said, yeah. I mean, unless you know, there’s something, you know, a deeper issue, let’s just say that. And I don’t want to speculate on that or anything like that at all. But for me, if I’m booking the show, I’m not booking that.
“You know what I mean, if I’m the guy that’s doing it, actually acting I’m not, you know, going out that way just because of what I’ve done, you know, for this business here in the United States since I was a kid, like I said, I remember seeing AJ Styles as a kid in that locker room, way back in the day, you know, just looking for a break, looking for a break, you know, I mean, so nah, I don’t see that.”
Royal Rumble 2026 is set to take place on Jan. 31, 2026, at the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
