"AJ Styles explains why he kept his gloves after his WWE retirement match at Royal Rumble. "
AJ Styles’ farewell at the 2026 Royal Rumble was supposed to be a clean ending.
One last match. One final bell. A definitive goodbye. Instead, a small moment after the match turned into the biggest talking point of the night and maybe the most debated image of his career.
Styles faced Gunther in what WWE billed as his retirement bout. The match was physical, tense, and emotional from the opening lockup. When Gunther forced Styles to pass out in a sleeper hold, the arena fell silent. It felt final. Fans waited for the familiar ritual that often seals a wrestler’s goodbye. The gloves coming off. The ring being left behind.
That moment never came.
Styles paused, looked around, and then put his gloves back on before leaving the ring. It was subtle, but it landed hard. Almost instantly, social media lit up with theories, emotions, and questions about what that decision really meant.
A Quiet Choice That Spoke Loudly
In the days after the match, Styles addressed the moment and made it clear the choice was intentional. He explained that leaving the gloves behind felt too final for how he wanted to say goodbye. He wanted to leave on his own terms, not follow a tradition just because it existed. For him, the gloves represented more than a symbol. They represented the work, the grind, and the identity he built over decades.
Styles also emphasized that the match itself was the ending of his WWE in-ring career. The gloves staying with him were not a tease or a trick. They were personal. He wanted to walk out as AJ Styles, not as a memory frozen in the ring.
Still, speculation has not slowed. Wrestling fans are conditioned to read between the lines, and a legend keeping his gear rarely goes unnoticed. With Styles no longer active in WWE, whispers have naturally shifted toward other possibilities, including appearances elsewhere or special one-off matches.
There has been quiet chatter around AEW, along with international promotions that value legacy performers. Nothing concrete has surfaced, and those close to Styles say he is focused on life outside the ring right now.
Whether the gloves ever come off for good remains unknown. What is clear is that AJ Styles controlled his final WWE moment exactly how he wanted. Calm.
