Finn Balor, Roman Reigns, Shinsuke Nakamura and many other WWE stars have sent heartfelt farewell messages to AJ Styles following his retirement.
Following a loss to the “Career Killer” GUNTHER at WWE Royal Rumble 2026, AJ Styles wrapped up his in-ring career after a legendary 27-year run.
Competing in WCW, TNA, ROH, NJPW and eventually WWE among many other promotions, Styles’ retirement has been felt across the wrestling world, with AEW’s Tony Khan and others paying tribute to “The Phenomenal One”, as well as his peers in WWE.
During his appearance on What’s Your Story? With Stephanie McMahon, Styles was surprised by a compilation of video messages from some of his former rivals and friends in WWE.
The first message shown was from Roman Reigns, someone Styles feuded with in his first year in WWE back in 2016. Reigns said:
“Hell of a worker. Hell of a teammate. Just an old ass video game brother you know what I mean?
“But that reflects I think who he is as a person, the discipline that he has, being involved in professional wrestling. Being on the road but continuing to stay true to being a family man and being a father.
“I’m just happy I was able to make some art with him when our time came a few years ago.
“It would have been cool to run it back and do it again, explore new chapters of what we can do together because there was, pun intended, phenomenal chemistry there.
“So, big Al, have fun, be safe brother, we’ll see you down the road.”
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Randy Orton, who Styles faced off with at WrestleMania 35 in 2019, heaped praise on AJ’s character outside of the ring:
“What I really respect about him is the kind of husband, the kind of father he is.
“AJ if you’re listening man, I love you buddy, I wish you the best and thanks for the good times inside the ring and out.”
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In a heartfelt message, SmackDown star Damian Priest told Styles:
“I don’t know anybody who has been a better positive influence to the locker room than you in my time here.
“So, thank you so much for being you.”
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One of Styles most famous rivals across NJPW and WWE, Shinsuke Nakamura said Styles “feels like a brother”:
“AJ is special for a lot of people. But for me, it’s more than that.
“One of my best friends, also sometimes I feel like he’s like a brother. I miss him already.”
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Xavier Woods then described how instrumental Styles has been to his career, from their time together in TNA to WWE:
“Because of AJ Styles I made my way into TNA, which helped me get my way into WWE, helped me find The New Day, helped me create that and helped me have the career that I’ve had, so I just want to say thank you AJ you are the man.
“So sad to see you go but happy that we got the time with you that we did.”
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WWE producer Chris Park – who worked with AJ Styles extensively in TNA Wrestling as Abyss – recalled their match at TNA Lockdown 2005 – describing it as his all-time favorite from his career:
“My favorite match ever to this day, 2005 Lockdown, first Lockdown, Steel Cage, you and me. My single greatest match I ever had because of you.
“God bless you, Wendy, your children. Have a great retirement, I love you to death, I always will.”
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Fellow independent wrestling legend and current WWE SmackDown star Sami Zayn said Styles’ retirement has been making him feel “disproportionately emotional”:
“AJ what to say buddy? I’ve been really, weirdly, disproportionally emotional about the thought of you leaving. I don’t know, it’s doing something to me man.
“He wouldn’t want me to get emotional because it’ll make you emotional, so we won’t do that now. But I’ll miss you.”
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Former two-time WWE Grand Slam Champion The Miz expressed how grateful he is to have worked with Styles and call him a friend:
“I am thankful to have AJ as a WWE superstar, as a friend and I’m going to miss him a lot.
“Because AJ is one of those guys that you want to have around but now he gets time to have time with his family and be with them, so I guess I’m thankful for that too.”
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Lastly, a visibly emotional Finn Balor described Styles as a “constant source of inspiration” throughout his career:
“I feel so happy for him that he’s able to retire with his health, and AJ I just want to say congratulations on such an incredible career.
“And from a personal standpoint, I want to say thank you because you’ve always been such a constant source of inspiration for me and I know we’ve had very similar career paths but I hope you know that I’ve always, always looked up to you for me you are the benchmark for what it is to be a professional both inside and outside the ring.
“I’m very grateful that I got the opportunity to share the last the 10 years with you in this company.
“I know we kind of dodged each other a lot on the indies, you were in TNA, I was in Japan. When you came to Japan I went to NXT so we missed each other for a long time but I feel like getting to know you over the last 10 years on a personal level and in the ring, witnessing how great and phenomenal you really are, I want to say thank you for being AJ Styles.”
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In the same interview Styles revealed who among the WWE roster he “squeezed the hardest” following his final match – click here for full details.
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