AJ Styles and Gunther to appear on upcoming episode of WWE Raw

As reported over at F4W, “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles and “The Ring General” Gunther will both be appearing on the go-home edition of WWE Raw this Monday. AJ Styles will speak on the show and Gunther will also be interviewed. There has been no confirmation if the two will meet face to face on the event.

Gunther recently defeated Styles on an edition of Raw and would only agree to a rematch were Styles prepared to put his career on the line. Angered by the disrespect that Gunther has shown John Cena since retiring the “Doctor of Thuganomics”, Styles agreed to the stipulation, meaning that Royal Rumble 2026 in Saudi Arabia could be Styles’ last match for WWE.

Will AJ Styles retire at the Royal Rumble?

It’s an intriguing proposition at this stage, and you can make arguments for it in either direction;

Firstly, Styles began this impressive WWE run all the way back at Royal Rumble 2016, so his WWE career ending at the same event would represent some interesting symmetry. There’s also the fact that Gunther only just ended John Cena’s career in December and is seemingly in the midst of a big push, so him losing so early into that push could feel a tad premature. In addition; Royal Rumble is the first time a “Big Four” event has taken place in Saudi Arabia, with WrestleMania to follow in 2027, so ending AJ Styles’ career would give the Saudi’s a big moment with long term ramifications, which could help with making the fans there feel like they got their monies worth.

However, it does feel a bit abrupt for Styles’ career to end so soon. As his match with Shinsuke Nakamura at Saturday Night’s Main Event highlighted (click HERE for Niz’s review) there could be plenty of mileage still left in booking Styles in Dream Matches with opponents from his past in order to get fans more invested in the final days of his career. Styles surviving Gunther and then going on to give the fans more special attraction bouts until Gunther finally does send him off into the sunset later in the year could make for entertaining television. Gunther being defeated by Styles could also give Gunther impetus to get angry and even more destructive as well, leading to some punishing bouts and segments.

Raw could be just another chapter in this rivalry or it could be the penultimate step to the end of a legendary Professional Wrestling career. Also announced for the show is Bron Breakker returning from his suspension and also a Fatal Four Way Tag Team bout between The New Day, American Alpha, American Made and Los Americanos.

Stay tuned to the Blog of DOOM for the review of the show by our very own Kat Bourne