AJ Styles has found his footing in WWE following his retirement from in-ring competition. Styles retired in January with a loss to Gunther at Royal Rumble 2026. He has since signed a new contract with WWE, taking on a behind-the-scenes role focused on scouting wrestlers and working with talent in a developmental capacity.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque appeared on a new episode of Cody Rhodes’ “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast and detailed conversations he had with Styles leading up to and following retirement. By the end of his run, Styles was ready to be done wrestling but wanted to remain involved in the business. He sat in on creative and production meetings to explore those options, but neither was the right fit.
“At the end, AJ was like, ‘I don’t want to be done with the business. I want to be done wrestling.’ And I don’t think I’m betraying a confidence here,” Levesque said. “But even in his last match, he was telling me like, ‘I’m done because I was out there in that last match thinking like, let’s just get [it] over with, I just want to get to the end.'”
“He wants to participate in the business, right? But being an agent or a producer, it’s a different world. Being in what we do, there’s different fits for different people. AJ came in, he sat in on some creative meetings, he sat in on some production meetings. And I think he realized like, the writing thing’s not for me, the producer thing, I don’t think is for me. What I really like is getting to these young kids and spotting talent and then trying to help fan the flames of the little spark that’s there and try to make them into something more, the developmental side of it. So, great, let’s utilize him in that and grab those talents there.”
Levesque also said he believes Rhodes is another person who will have a significant impact in WWE when his in-ring career comes to an end.
“It’s your show, and I’m not trying to blow smoke up your ass,” Levesque said. “You’re one of those guys that I believe, as you come to the end of your career, it behooves you to start to pay attention to the other things.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
