John Cena on the future of AJ Styles: “He has earned the right to do whatever he damn well wants”

As seen during the 2026 WWE Royal Rumble PLE, AJ Styles lost to Gunther in a career-threatening match. While speaking to SI.com, John Cena commented on the future of Styles…

“What do I think AJ Styles should do next? Gosh, he has earned the right to do whatever he damn well wants. He has spent so much of his life really risking his health for all of the fans of sports entertainment. He was NWA World Champion, he dominated over in Japan, he worked for TNA, he worked for WWE. He can do whatever he wants. He has earned that right.”

Cena also said the following about working with Styles…

“Every opponent you have should mean something to you. You should learn from them. Where AJ is concerned, not only does he have such an incredible wrestling vocabulary, fluency and ability, but I would be hard pressed to find somebody who would say, ‘AJ Styles treated me unfairly’ or ‘AJ Styles was mean to me’. Allen, AJ, is just a really good person.”