Following his defeat at the hands of Gunther at last month's Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, AJ Styles returned to RAW this past Monday for a final send-off. It was an emotional farewell that wrapped up with a surprise appearance from The Undertaker.
Styles was the Phenom's final WrestleMania opponent, with the two facing off in a cinematic Boneyard Match during the pandemic. It was only fitting then that 'Taker be the one to tell Styles that he's being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
According to Bryan Alvarez, WWE management did not inform Styles about this in advance, meaning it was a legitimate surprise to the Phenomenal One.
However, there may have been an element of strategy on WWE's part, too. According to Justin Barrasso, WWE is all too aware that AEW and Tony Khan are eager to work with Styles.
"For as much as WWE claims to be blissfully unaware of what is happening in AEW, that isn’t the case. With Styles getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, it severely limits any potential AEW owner Tony Khan had of bringing Styles in for a surprise appearance at the Revolution pay-per-view in March."
"For AEW, their post-WrestleMania show is Double or Nothing in May–and even that feels too soon for Styles to appear...that isn’t to imply Styles was looking to wrestle again. He meant what he said about spending time at home with family. But speaking to a few people close to him, Styles was well aware that AEW was willing to make a substantial offer. And it was likely going to be one that wouldn’t cost him much time away from home."
WWE inducting the former WWE Champion to keep him away from AEW makes for a good headline, but it's hard to imagine the company publicly announcing that without having Styles under some sort of contract.
Talking on RAW Recap, the future WWE Hall of Famer explained why he chose to step away from the ring. "Now is the right time to retire so I don’t make a fool out of myself, so I don’t embarrass myself. I’m on the verge of doing just that. It’s not easy, mind you, but it’s time. As far as the Royal Rumble, that’s special to me because that’s where I made my debut. To be able to end where I started is poetic."
"It was coming back from an injury to WrestleMania to a match that, to me, didn’t have much build. WrestleMania, I’m sorry to say, used to be the most prestigious PLE, but to me, it’s kind of lost its luster a little bit," Styles candidly admitted, referring to scrapped plans in 2025. "As far as the Royal Rumble, that’s special to me because that’s where I made my debut. To be able to end where I started is poetic."
Here are some highlights from Styles' RAW send-off: