Wade Barrett sadly confirms WWE star is officially retiring

If 2025 was anything to go by, the year 2026 will be filled with more retirements in WWE. Wade Barrett has officially confirmed that a RAW Superstar will call time on his in-ring career this year.

AJ Styles has been vocal about hanging up his boots for good, having previously stated that 2026 would be his last year as an active performer.

The Phenomenal One was most recently seen in action on the December 29th episode of Monday Night RAW.

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee had a forgettable night, as they lost their World Tag Team Championships to The Usos in the main event of the show. This abruptly ended their 71-day reign, which included four title defenses.

Now that Styles' brief run in the tag team division is seemingly over, all eyes will be on his impending retirement.

During this week's episode of RAW, Wade Barrett addressed AJ Styles' future while calling the main event, saying that the fan-favorite wrestler will ride off into the sunset at some point this year.

WWE has teased AJ Styles' next feud

WWE seems to have planted the seeds for a blockbuster program between AJ Styles and Gunther.

Gunther made John Cena tap out in his final match at Saturday Night's Main Event and has been gloating about his win ever since. Of course, it hasn't sat well with the rest of the locker room, especially AJ Styles.

The Phenomenal One and The Ring General have since had a couple of interesting interactions backstage, which have everyone convinced that a buzzwordy feud is on the cards.

With WrestleMania 42 fast approaching, WWE CCO Triple H could book a clash between the two men at The Showcase of the Immortals.

Is Gunther going to be the one to end the in-ring career of AJ Styles this year? Only time will tell.

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Edited by Sidharth Sachdeva