WWE SmackDown star on possibly retiring after Clash at the Castle
WWE Clash at the Castle will feature five matches, including Cody Rhodes' latest Undisputed WWE Championship defense against AJ Styles. Ahead of the event, the challenger addressed what might happen when his in-ring career ends.
Styles pretended to retire on the May 31 episode of SmackDown before attacking Rhodes. The rivals will meet again in an "I Quit" match at Clash at the Castle on June 15 in Glasgow, Scotland.
In an interview with Seconds Out, Styles was asked who he would like to face in his final storyline. The 47-year-old also hinted he could be forced to retire depending on what happens against Rhodes:
"I'm not sure who that opponent is," Styles said. "I'm not sure what the story will be. I'm not sure of anything right now. I'm not sure that I'll make it out of tomorrow night without having to retire. Who knows what could happen? All I know is that today I'm gonna enjoy SmackDown, tomorrow I'm gonna tear the house down with Cody Rhodes, and I'm gonna enjoy both those." [2:00 – 2:19]
Styles previously won the WWE Championship from Dean Ambrose and Jinder Mahal in 2016 and 2017, respectively. On May 4, he unsuccessfully challenged for Rhodes' title at Backlash France.
AJ Styles on his greatest WWE career moments
Aside from his title wins, another major AJ Styles moment came when he faced The Undertaker in a cinematic Boneyard match at WrestleMania 36.
Styles is grateful for all the opportunities he has had in WWE and thinks it would be unfair to rank one success above another:
"You know, there was a time in anybody's career, they'll be [saying], 'This was the moment, this was the moment, this was the moment, this was the moment.' Which one was the moment? But you needed each one of those moments, so to take and put one above the other, it's not fair to your career, right?" [0:35 – 0:50]
Styles mentioned his feud with John Cena as another standout moment from his career. The Phenomenal One beat Cena at SummerSlam 2016 before losing the WWE Championship to his long-term rival at the 2017 Royal Rumble.
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Please credit Seconds Out and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.