Former WWE Champion reveals truth behind AEW pursuing AJ Styles

AJ Styles hung up his wrestling boots last month.

‘The Phenomenal One’ AJ Styles suffered defeat in the career-threatening match against Gunther at the 2026 edition of the Royal Rumble in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

After the loss, Styles made an appearance on the February 23 episode of Raw to bid farewell to the WWE Universe and officially leave his gloves in the ring. The Undertaker then appeared to announce Styles as the newest inductee into the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame.

However, following his Royal Rumble loss, widespread speculation and rumors began circulating about Styles potentially signing with either TNA or AEW. Reports also suggested that Styles and WWE were unable to reach an agreement, raising the possibility of him becoming a free agent.

Chris Jericho had high praise for the Phenomenal One

As already mentioned, Styles did ended up re-signing with WWE and adopting a new role as a talent scout. Now, in a recent appearance, former WWE Champion Chris Jericho confirmed that AEW was indeed pursuing Styles.

In a conversation with GamesHub, Chris Jericho revealed that AEW was genuinely keen on bringing Styles in and spoke highly of the Phenomenal One.

However, he also cast doubt on the idea of stepping away from one promotion just to turn up in another, especially since AEW and WWE have a very different working culture.

“There was a time when we were going after him when his contract was up, Could he be a good fit? Of course he would be. AJ’s a great performer and a great guy. But there is something to be said for the fact that when you’ve worked in the Vince McMahon system for a long time, you think differently.

There are ways WWE runs their company, and there are ways AEW runs theirs. I’m not going to speak for AJ, but I don’t know why you’d retire in one place and then immediately go somewhere else. That said, I’m sure it’s always a possibility.”

Chris Jericho is unsure about his career

During the conversation, Jericho also reflected on his own career, stating that while he has some time left, he is unsure of how long her can continue wrestling.

“What worries me about the guys working today is here I am at 55, 35 years in, with still some career left to go, I don’t know if it’s a year, two years, four years. I’m not sure. But I don’t know how many of the guys working now will have the option to go 35 years.

Hopefully all of them. But you can already see what serious injuries do. A bad neck surgery changes everything.”

The AEW star stressed that putting too much emphasis on physicality, without the right balance, could ultimately lead to shorter careers.

“The longevity may be harder to sustain when there’s so much emphasis on the physical at the expense of charisma and character, The guys who figure out which moves are worth the risk are the ones who get the longevity.”

Rumors of Jericho making his return to WWE were also rife during the start of 2026, but his contract with AEW has spoiled any such plans. Per reports, Jericho’s AEW contract may have been extended because of the time he missed during 2025.

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