AJ Styles opened up Monday Night Raw to address the proverbial elephant in the room: his retirement.
Styles told the fans that he has no intention of letting Gunther retire him at the Royal Rumble because he’s got a lot left he wants to do. AJ Styles said 2025, and John Cena taught him that you can take an entire year to say goodbye, so there was no reason why 2026 couldn’t be the year of Styles. There were locker rooms he wanted to wrestle in one more time (seemed like an indirect reference to his desire to have a final TNA match), competitors he wanted to face again (like his bout with Shinsuke Nakamura at Saturday Night’s Main Event), and world title gold he wanted to have around his waist for a final moment.
AJ Styles vs CM Punk for the First Time
Styles said he wants to be world champion one more time, and while he knows Gunther is good, he’s not phenomenal…Enter CM Punk, who seems to have gotten the world champion bat signal. Punk reminded Styles that they’ve known each other for decades. They’ve been friends and enemies, but now, there is nothing but respect between them. Selfishly, he wants more of AJ Styles. They had more moments they could share and more memories he can make. Punk felt the stakes were too high, so Styles challenged him, asking if Punk was implying he didn’t think he could beat Gunther. Styles assured his friend he could beat Gunther…and he could beat him too. Punk noted that if things didn’t go Styles’ way Saturday, the two would never have a chance to have their first and only match in a WWE ring. And as the crowd chanted “fight tonight,” it seemed certain what would happen next.
AJ Styles told CM Punk if they fought tonight, he wanted to be the No. 1 contender for the world title after he defeated Gunther this weekend. Punk said there was no need for that as he said he wanted to be a fighting champion. Punk challenged Styles to a match tonight, with the world title on the line.
PUNK VS STYLES TONIGHT FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP!?!?
Come on, @ScrapDaddyAP, make it official! pic.twitter.com/UfMYu0tKk7
— WWE (@WWE) January 27, 2026
Styles hasn’t won a singles title in five years and hasn’t held the world title since 2018. Should AJ Styles win tonight, it would be an incredible way to wrap up his Raw run…if that is in fact what’s happening.
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