AJ Styles says he has not become a WWE coach, and that his work at the Performance Center is cover for a colleague recovering from knee surgery.
Styles told his podcast listeners recently that he was going to be taking over for one of the coaches, a line that was widely reported as a permanent appointment. On the latest episode of The AJ Styles Show, he put a limit on it.
“One of our coaches had to get knee surgery. I have now taken his place until he’s back. I am not a coach per se that’s down here every week. I am just filling in until he’s back. That’s it.”
That matches what he first said in May, when he described the arrangement as helping out a friend while he had work done on his knees.
He is enjoying it regardless, and has been changing how the sessions run.
“I’m actually having a lot of fun with it, and I’m trying to make everything that we do very, very practical. Because this is what I see going on, so we’re going to do this and this right here and make sense of why you’re doing it. I want to see your feetwork, feetwork or footwork, I’m not sure how you say that, but little things like that.”
“I’m changing stuff up a little bit because the more you do the same thing over and over, the less you want to come to class and work hard. It gets redundant, so I’m trying to change things up a little bit, but not take away from what they already know.”
Styles did not name the coach he is covering for.
He retired in January, losing to GUNTHER at the Royal Rumble in the same building where he had debuted for WWE ten years earlier, and was announced for the Hall of Fame Class of 2026 by The Undertaker on the February 23 Raw in Atlanta.
His work for WWE since has taken in several areas. He has been scouting for WWE ID, has produced matches on NXT including a recent main event, and has been in and out of the Performance Center. Lexis King has described him publicly as his personal coach.
