D'Amore Drop: If this is really how AJ Styles’ career ends, it's perplexing

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The door was certainly left open, at least a few inches, when AJ Styles lost his retirement match against Gunther at this year's Royal Rumble. 

We’ll get to that, but first I want to say, clearly and with no caveats or hesitation, that AJ Styles is one of the most influential talents in the history of modern professional wrestling.

Like Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair and Lou Thesz before him, AJ was “the guy” in his generation. He’s the one that those who followed him look up to and try to emulate. He is one of the architects of the modern style of wrestling. In the blueprints for classic matches at WrestleMania, SummerSlam, All In and Full Gear, there’s AJ Styles’ signature.

I know from conversations with Will Ospreay, Josh Alexander, Seth Rollins and a who’s who of the best of the best, that AJ Styles is their inspiration.

And AJ Styles, for one, is the exception to the rule to never meet your heroes. I’ve been lucky enough to know AJ for a long time, since the early days of TNA, and while we aren’t best friends, I know him well enough to have met his family. He is a guy who always treats everyone well, never big-times anyone, and is one of the nicest people in the business.

Stylistically, he helped redefine the sport at a time when it felt like there was only one major place to work, because after WCW and ECW fell, the only place to really make a living in the U.S. was WWE.

I’ve spoken before about what AJ Styles meant to early-to-peak TNA. He was literally the pride of TNA. We — and TNA fans — knew TNA wasn’t on the same level as WWE, but we could always say, “Yeah, but WWE has no one on the level of AJ Styles and the X-Division.”

AJ Styles, and of course others who will get their flowers at another time, made our X-Division tagline — “It’s not about weight limits, it's about no limits” — real. No one else could do what AJ Styles could do. In the X-Division or as TNA World Champion, AJ was the face that ran the place.

It's still odd to think that he had more matches in WWE than in TNA and New Japan combined, because to me — and I think I have some authority here — AJ Styles is the DNA of TNA. He is the most important figure in TNA history, and I don’t think I am being controversial here.

So, is he retired or not? Him refusing to leave his fighting gloves in the ring was surely an indication that maybe there’s a coda or two in his career.

As it stands, I can’t believe AJ Styles’ career ends like this. It is perplexing.

I haven’t spoken to AJ, so this is purely speculation, but I can see him costing Gunther a big match, perhaps at WrestleMania in April, and coming back for a short run there. I can see the logic of a big match this summer in TNA, but I don’t really see a dream opponent for him there.

There’s talk he will remain in WWE as a producer, and wow, does he have so much to teach the next two or three generations. But breaking my own rule and allowing a little fantasy booking, I’d love to see him hit the Tokyo Dome once more. If we are to honor the full scope of what AJ has done for wrestling, a farewell at the Dome is a must.

Hell, let’s really lean into dream matchmaking and wish for a run in AEW, where he could wrestle the guys who idolize him, like Kenny Omega and Ospreay. Can you even imagine how good matches against Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page would be?

I don’t know what’s gotten into me this week, because I hate fantasy booking. I guess AJ Styles means so much to me. In for a penny, in for a pound — one of the most famous and best matches in TNA history was Unbreakable 2005, AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels. If you’ve never seen it, you need to.

Now, maybe Christopher Daniels should not be in that match in 2026 as an in-ring guy, I get that. But imagine AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe one last time with Daniels as the referee!

How much does AJ Styles love TNA? Well, for the 20th anniversary of Slammiversary in 2022, we asked WWE if AJ could be part of the show. They understandably said no. So, with AJ’s support, we requested that he be allowed to record a video message and, seeing what it meant to AJ, WWE graciously allowed it.

AJ allowed us to come film him at his home and he took his time with his message to TNA’s fans. It was heartfelt and you knew he still had a passion for TNA.

What a promo by Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns on "Raw." He’s come such a long way with his mic work. It was cool that he clearly was going to tease challenging Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE title, and then immediately pivoted when the fans simply didn’t buy it.

Even though Roman and World Champ CM Punk wrestled at WrestleMania 41 last year, in that great three-way with Seth Rollins, their one-on-one title match feels fresh for this year’s ’Mania.

I just got back from Atlanta, where I attended Eric Bischoff’s Power Plant weekend, courtesy of RingClassics.com. Ring Classics is the ultimate wrestling fan experience, curated by Conrad Thompson, arguably the king of wrestling podcasts for the past decade, and one of the biggest wrestling fans on the planet. (He’s married to Megan, Ric Flair’s other daughter.)

I had an incredible time as part of the WCW-themed weekend.

The members-only experience included a private visit to a special effects studio that housed original renderings for classic WCW characters like Glacier, the Kiss Demon and an early incarnation of Sting, along with multiple versions of the company’s championship belts.

Eric Bischoff — the WCW head during the Monday Night Wars — also led the fans on a tour through Atlanta’s WCW history, including a stop at the old Power Plant.

It’s a martial arts dojo now, though apparently it still looks and feels like it did when I trained there 30 years ago, back in the '90s. I say “trained,” but by today’s standards most people would probably describe as “torture.” That’s certainly how I remember it.

Ring Classics members also got their own private Power Plant experience — an opportunity to step into a wrestling ring for a training session led by Power Plant legend Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker and Power Plant alumnus Elix Skipper. I went along to see both guys.

For newer fans, Sgt. Buddy Lee was a true taskmaster. There’s an infamous British documentary in which BBC presenter Louis Theroux trained at the Power Plant, only to collapse and get sent outside to throw up.

Thankfully, the Sarge kept it light this time, about a 5% workout. Trust me, that was more than enough.

It was great seeing both Buddy and Elix. I loved Buddy as a wrestler long before I trained under him, and I still respect him immensely. As you get older, reconnecting with people who shaped you early on hits differently. You can’t help thinking about how many more chances you’ll get to see them.

Elix, a Power Plant graduate himself, is a four-time TNA Tag Team Champion and the man behind one of the most insane cage-walk spots in wrestling history.

Overall, it was an unforgettable weekend, one that took me right back to being an 18-year-old kid, wide-eyed and thrilled just to be backstage with legends like David Crockett.

Conrad mentioned he’s planning more of these experiences in the future, possibly as early as May 2026. I can’t recommend them enough. For hardcore wrestling fans, it’s something truly special.

WCW trivia: The final graduate of the Power Plant was Chael P. Sonnen — the, ahem, undefeated UFC star.

Part of the Ring Classics was attending a live 1 Fall Wrestling event. 1FW, which I’ve joined as co-executive producer, is one of the most impressive indies I’ve ever seen. In fact, calling it an “indie” is a disservice as the 1FW, as the 1FW arena they have is as good as anything outside WWE and AEW.

1FW was supposed to run three shows — Friday to Sunday — but a “severe weather warning” led to the postponement of the Saturday show. In fact, the “severe” storm was about 40 minutes of snow which melted as soon as it hit the ground.

Nevertheless, trust me, big, big things to come from 1FW on streaming and TV.

Last weekend was my first chance to see a show in person. I was blown away.

Even driving in, seeing the area, I was thinking about my first time in WCW in Atlanta as an 18-year-old kid, and how exciting it was being in a locker room with Arn Anderson and Ric and so many amazing people.

1FW was a fun show with a good crew, a lot of young talent, and a great crowd. What stood out to me was almost nobody was on their phones. They were just there, in the moment, with friends and family, reacting to what was happening.

AEW’s Hook was down there too, helping out his friend QT Marshall, who runs 1FW. Hook being on the show was amazing not only for the promotion, but for the fans and the young talent backstage.

Hook is very young himself, but debuted at a very high level and is obviously tearing it up in AEW and also getting cool acting roles. But he was backstage, using his suitcase as a chair, and just one of the boys. Hook is what we call “a good brother.”

I recorded a podcast with WWE Hall of Famer John Layfield as part of the Top Guy weekend.

The pod with JBL was awesome — it’ll be dropping on YouTube soon.

AEW made a bold call on "Collision" last week, putting the TNT Championship on Tommaso Ciampa in his debut match when he beat Mark Briscoe.

It isn’t always the right call, putting the belt on a new guy in the promotion. There’s the old-school feeling that it shows your established stars aren’t on the level of whatever competition your new signing is from, but there’s also the booking concern of cutting short the initial chase for a title and “where do we go from here?”

But in this case, I think it works.

I think Briscoe is a guy who does not need the belt. It was cool, it was important for him to win it, but he is not a guy who needs to hold it. So moving it to Ciampa, I think, legitimizes Tommaso right away, does not hurt Briscoe at all, and it kind of sets up the table for a lot of fun stuff.

The D'Amore Drop is a weekly guest column on Uncrowned written by Scott D’Amore, the Canadian professional wrestling promoter, executive producer, trainer and former wrestler best known for his long-standing role with TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, where he served as head of creative. D’Amore is the current owner of leading Canadian promotion Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling.