WWE Star Explains How AJ Styles Retirement ‘Lit A Fire’ In Them

A WWE star has opened up on AJ Styles’ retirement, and how it ‘lit a fire’ under them to remove a stain on their career.

AJ Styles’ retirement was confirmed on this week’s WWE Raw show, with the show being a tribute episode to AJ, which ended with the confirmation of his induction into the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame class.

Many names from AJ’s career were in attendance for the show, including Finn Balor, who looks to become World Heavyweight Champion at the Elimination Chamber this Saturday against CM Punk.

Speaking to Adrian Hernandez, Balor opened up on AJ’s retirement, and how it lit a fire under him thinking about how much longer he has in his career to ‘remove the stain’ of SummerSlam 2016.

He said:

“It’s very hard to put it into words, but the change in landscape in wrestling recently has been dramatic. First of all it was very emotional seeing John retire, everyone’s looked up to John for so long and what he’s done, not only in the business, but for so many Make A Wish kids around the world and so many people he’s inspired and influenced.

“Then to see AJ retire, someone I’ve looked up to professionally for 25 years. He’s been like a constant source of inspiration for me, a benchmark of how to perform in the ring, so getting to be there to see him retire, sparks not only emotions but, a lot of feelings towards where I’m at with my career, and the idea that, probably, the clock is ticking for me too.

“It got me thinking about how, for the last 10 years, every time I do any kind of media I get asked ‘what if you didn’t get hurt and had to relinquish the title?’. I feel there’s a stain on my career for the last 10 years that I need to remove, and no matter how hard I try to remove it; multiple time Tag Champion, Intercontinental Champion, US Champion, going back to NXT, being a two-time champion in NXT, no matter how hard I try to remove that stain of that injury from that night in SummerSlam in 2016, people aren’t satisfied until I win the big one.

“I feel like I’ve realised with AJ retiring, that I don’t have much time to remove this stain, that I need to fix it now. It’s kind of lit a fire under me so to speak, a new drive, a new motivation and a new goal to really stop those questions of ‘What If’ and for me it’s a question of when, when am I gonna be champion, and the only person that can answer that is me.”

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