Whether or not he walks out the winner of his career-threatening bout against Gunther at the Royal Rumble, AJ Styles has long made it clear that 2026 will be the final year of his in-ring career.
Debuting in 1999, Styles has since gone on to conquer effectively every corner of the wrestling globe. He is a former three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, two-time TNA World Champion, two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, and a one-time RevPro British Heavyweight Champion, as well as a litany of other secondary and tag team titles with each of the aforementioned and more promotions.
In short, he conquered wrestling outside of WWE. And then he went to WWE in 2016, debuting in the Royal Rumble, and continued to conquer all the same.
If his career does come to an end at the hands of Gunther, Styles will retire as a two-time WWE Champion, three-time United States Champion, two-time Tag Team Champion, and a one-time Intercontinental Champion to complete the Grand Slam. If it doesn't, he may have the chance to add to that list before an undoubted Hall of Fame induction.
But what if he never joined WWE in 2016? What could have been? Well, read on for this writer's take on that timeline.
Prior to his Royal Rumble debut, Styles failed to wrest the IWGP Intercontinental Championship from fellow WWE signee Shinsuke Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom.
Following that loss, he and his protege, the junior heavyweight the world had yet to truly identify, Kenny Omega, teamed in victory over Nakamura and YOSHI-HASHI. After the bout, Omega lifted Styles onto his shoulders and dropped him with a One-Winged Angel, joined by the rest of Bullet Club in attacking and betraying him.
If he were not to go to WWE, then that story would have continued. Nakamura would have still vacated the Intercontinental title on his way out, and there may have been a different bout in February to determine the new champion.
Omega beat Hiroshi Tanahashi to capture his first title at heavyweight on that night, but it may have been Styles who stood opposite him in the perfect grudge match and an ideal succession for the title. Likewise, it could have been Styles running the route Tanahashi had in the G1 Climax, won by Omega later in the year; Tanahashi drew with Kazuchika Okada on the final day of the block stage, eliminating both of them at the same time.
Having drawn with Okada, he may well have entered the title picture as Omega turned his attention to challenging "The Rainmaker" at Wrestle Kingdom in 2017. That event famously saw Okada and Omega meet for their iconic Tokyo Dome battle, but that might just have gone differently if Styles was still available.
With Omega and The Elite's popularity soaring NJPW had entered into partnerships with ROH and PWG as part of its expansion into the USA.
That saw Omega crowned the inaugural IWGP United States Champion, as well as Cody Rhodes holding the ROH World title and planting the seeds with the Young Bucks for All In in 2018.
That all takes on a new complexion with the presence of Styles, especially as Chris Jericho's foray into NJPW comes into play.
Styles and Jericho worked together right off the bat when the former actually came into WWE, and it was his first WrestleMania match. But if that were never to happen, the promise of Styles against Jericho in NJPW might have been even more of a landscape shift than Jericho-Omega. Add all three to the mix, as well as the likes of Okada, Rhodes, and Kota Ibushi lurking on the outside, and there's an entirely different feel to the scale of things.
Bearing in mind that alongside this, The Elite had been ejected from Bullet Club by Tama Tonga in favor of new leader Jay White. How does that situation develop with Styles still in the mix?
That may have been the making of a true expansion into the US for NJPW. Though it may have made the eventual exodus even more of a hit to the promotion, with 2019 marking the year that The Elite left NJPW and made their choice. Go to WWE, or, as Styles had done in this fantasy scenario...
Omega, the Young Bucks, Rhodes, and "Hangman" Adam Page chose to reject WWE for a new opportunity entirely, banding together with Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham football club executive/son of Shahid Khan, Tony Khan, to found All Elite Wrestling.
Love it or hate it, AEW stands as the foremost wrestling promotion outside of WWE. And The Elite have all gone on to be concrete fixtures in the company at one time or another; Rhodes inaugurated and held the TNT Championship three times before joining WWE in 2022, while the others remain with the company as multi-time World and World Tag Team Champions. The likes of Jericho took up the opportunity alongside them, having found a different level in his career after years with WWE. And if he wasn't to go to WWE, it would only make sense for Styles to make his home in Jacksonville at some stage.
If he did from the start, he may have been the man who stood opposite Jericho or Page at the first Double or Nothing, and perhaps even the first man to hold the AEW World Championship. He and Rhodes may have clashed sooner than they have done since, perhaps, as a TNT title feud much in the same vein as Styles' years in the X-Division. Styles and Jon Moxley may have feuded for the AEW World Championship years after they did for the WWE Championship, and at very different stages in their careers, that feud might have even been better.
There are untold dream matches one could list off and go through. That's the essence of what could have been, especially when talking about one of the best wrestlers of all time. He may have dominated AEW, returned to TNA, collected belts, as well as or instead of Omega. But it's been a good run nonetheless, so if this is truly the last time, thank you, AJ Styles.
