AJ Styles accused of bribery; speaks out!

AJ Styles has been accused of bribery by a fan on social media. The whole conversation started with one user claiming that Styles was pressured into staying with the WWE, and the company bribed him with his Hall of Fame induction.

Styles ended his illustrious professional wrestling career in 2026. He lost to Gunther at the Royal Rumble 2026 Premium Live Event and bowed out of the business. On Styles’ tribute show, The Undertaker informed him regarding his Hall of Fame induction.

Responding to another X user about the same topic, Styles claimed that he was quite happy if “bribing” had led to him landing the job he had always wanted.

“If bribing me leads to getting the job that I want, that’s great.” wrote Styles.

Check out Styles’ post on X:

Gunther explained the importance of retiring AJ Styles in WWE

Gunther has retired several WWE veterans over the past year. He defeated Goldberg to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in what turned out to be the latter’s final match. In December 2025, Gunther submitted John Cena in his final match.

Speaking with WWE Retrospective, The Ring General stated that he grew up looking up to wrestlers of AJ Styles‘ caliber. Gunther recalled watching Styles’ marquee matches in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He said:

“The generation in wrestling that I came up with, we looked up to guys like AJ Styles. I remember when he was in New Japan, we always watched his big matches there. They were fantastic and stuff. There was a time when I was really grinding and developing. There was stuff I would watch, so I always had so much respect for AJ’s work. (…) From the wrestler purist heart, that felt almost more important for [sic] me than the Cena match. But on-screen, being able to rub it in and try to ruin the last run he has, it was a lot of fun.”

Styles has been working closely with WWE Superstars who are still in developmental, including Lexis King. The Phenomenal One is now the one-on-one coach of the NXT Superstar.