AJ Styles may be retired, but getting his brain to accept that his wrestling career is over has been a whole different fight.
During the latest episode of The AJ Styles Show, the WWE Hall of Famer opened up about life after stepping away from the ring and admitted retirement has been more difficult than he expected. The subject came up while Styles was discussing whether his sons getting into wrestling could ever tempt him into one more match.
Styles isn’t promising a comeback. In fact, he said there is currently nothing pushing him toward getting back in the ring. That doesn’t mean the thought never crosses his mind, especially when he’s having one of those days where his body feels good.
“I’ve lied before, but as far as I know, I didn’t mean to lie. In a perfect world, it is on television when I come back to wrestle with my son or sons. In a perfect world. As of right now, there’s no bug up my butt trying to get me in the ring. Some days I feel good and I go, ‘Freak, I could wrestle right now.’ Then there’s some days I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so glad I’m done.’”
That led to Styles being reminded about some of the mixed signals surrounding his retirement. After joking that wrestling fans probably shouldn’t trust anything he says when it comes to staying retired, Styles admitted the transition has been harder than he thought it would be.
“I don’t mean to be like that. It’s a little harder than I thought it was going to be. I wish I could wrestle forever, but my brain says, ‘Yeah, we can.’ My body’s like, ‘Dude, we’re dying.’ Reality is I’m halfway dead. I’m more than halfway dead. I’m 49. The reality of living to a hundred is not going to happen. So yeah, I’m more than halfway dead.”
That pretty much sums up the battle Styles is dealing with right now. Mentally, part of him still believes he can walk through the curtain and wrestle again. Physically, he’s getting a much louder reminder about why he retired in the first place.
Styles isn’t saying another match is coming, but he’s also not pretending the desire disappeared the second his career ended. With his sons now getting deeper into wrestling, that door doesn’t sound completely welded shut either.
Do you think AJ Styles will eventually give in and wrestle one more match, especially if it means teaming with one of his sons? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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