Last September, AJ Styles made his long-awaited return to WWE television and opened SmackDown with a match against Carmelo Hayes.
The bout ended up being stopped when the Phenomenal One suffered an apparent foot injury; he then limped to the back and an update from WWE suggested he might have sprained his ankle (it was later reported he'd suffered a mid-foot ligament sprain).
Taking to X, Styles eventually confirmed that he'd suffered a Lisfranc injury. Those occur if bones in the midfoot are broken or ligaments that support the midfoot are torn. The severity of a Lisfranc injury can vary widely - from a simple injury involving one midfoot joint to a complex injury involving many midfoot joints and broken bones.
A simple Lisfranc injury can be easily mistaken for a sprain (which is what happened in Styles' case), especially if the injury is a result of a straightforward twist and fall. Ultimately, it sidelined him for months.
At the Royal Rumble earlier this month, the former WWE Champion finally returned and has been feuding with Dominick Mysterio and Intercontinental Champion Bron Brakker since. There have been rumblings about a heel turn - and a possible alliance with The Judgement Day - but is the clock counting down on Styles' in-ring career?
According to Dave Meltzer on a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Styles' 2024 return was meant to kick off a farewell/retirement tour.
"The original idea for AJ before he got hurt was that he would be doing like kind of a farewell, and with a farewell it's kind of hard to go and be a heel for your farewell," he explained. "But they haven't pushed the farewell this time, you know like last time they did, this time they haven't really pushed it."
It appears things have changed and that Styles might not say goodbye quite as soon as we anticipated. He has, however, been open about wanting to spend more time at home.
"There's definitely a finish line somewhere in the future," Styles admitted last summer. "Listen, I enjoy this, I really do, it's just I don't want to get to a point where –- I said this before –- you're going, 'Ugh, man, maybe it's time for him to get out?' I don't want to get to that point."
"I'm trying to use [my bump card] sparingly and, you know, positively and everything at the right time. Not as easy as you think because as a heel you've got to make sure everybody looks good."
He continued, "I have a nine-year-old and she gets heartbroken when I'm gone for too long. The sacrifices that I've made early in my life are the reason why I'm going to get to spend more time with them here in the future."
The more we see Styles in a WWE ring, the better. How much longer his in-ring career will last remains to be seen, but chances are he'll be a big part of what we see on RAW each week for the rest of 2025.