AJ Styles was supposed to cut his hair the moment he retired. That was the plan. Months after previously saying his signature long hair would be “the first thing to go” once his in-ring career ended, Styles has now admitted he changed his mind—and it came down to one surprisingly practical problem.
Speaking on the August 6 edition of The AJ Styles Show, the retired WWE star was asked the question many fans had been wondering ever since he hung up his boots. Styles laughed before revealing he actually did plan on cutting it. Then he talked himself out of it.
“You know, I thought about, like, I’m going to cut it when I’m done. There’s no reason to have long hair. But then I was like, ‘Well, what do I do with it?’ And also when you cut your hair short, as you know, every two weeks you got to go in for a haircut.”
The hosts weren’t buying that excuse. Instead, they suggested Styles bring back the short-haired look he had during the mid-2000s. Styles wasn’t interested. In fact, he admitted he doesn’t even like looking back at that version of himself anymore, adding that getting rid of his beard would only make things worse.
“Yeah. I don’t think he looks… I don’t know. I don’t know. He kind of looks dumb to me. So, I can’t lose the beard at this point. I would look really dumb.”
Back in late 2025, Styles revealed he expected retirement to bring a completely different look, saying his wife had been encouraging him to cut his hair and even floating the idea of shaving it all off. Nearly a year later, that plan has officially been scrapped. Instead of debuting a fresh look after retirement, the Phenomenal One has decided the long hair—and the beard—are staying exactly where they are.
What do you think? Should AJ Styles finally cut his signature long hair, or has it become part of the Phenomenal One’s identity? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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