- AJ Styles challenges WWE champion Cody Rhodes in 'I quit' match in Scotland
- At 47, Styles has regularly teased retirement, but says he has a little more to give
- The Phenomenal One worked with Edge, but there's one thing he would change
AJ Styles will challenge WWE Undisputed world champion Cody Rhodes this weekend in Scotland in an "I Quit" match that could settle their escalating feud.
But in the eyes of many, it's about time Styles was back in the big time matchups.
Having just turned 47, Styles has spent the last few years of his career either injured or working away from the world title. Before that, he was in a tag team with Omos.
But when he first joined WWE in 2016, he instantly won fans over with his performances in the main event scene that led to a pair of WWE title runs.
The Phenomenal One is increasingly talking about hanging up his boots, but for now he is enjoying another run in the mix for the industry's top prize.
AJ Styles has long said he is on the final stretch of his career, but he is still at the top level
'Listen, you can't always be at the top and sometimes you got to wait your turn,' Styles told Mail Sport.
'I waited long enough and now it's time to be where I'm at and do what I do. That's have incredible matches and one of those was in Lyon, France. Tomorrow night [Saturday], it'll be Clash at the Castle.'
In order to get Rhodes to agree to this rematch, Styles faked his retirement on SmackDown a couple of weeks ago and attacked the champion, a la Mark Henry to John Cena back in 2013.
'It's not like I'm not ever gonna retire! I am gonna retire one day! Just not when Cody thought I was going to retire.
'Listen, I had to get a match with Cody again. Nick Aldis wasn't going to give me a match and I knew the only way to do it was to beat him senseless, make him look a complete idiot - because everybody seemed like they thought they knew what was coming but Cody was embarrassed.'
Did Henry applaud Styles' ode to him?
'We may have talked a little bit. He may have applauded my actions and the way it was done. He actually took a lot more credit than he should have,' Styles said with a smirk.
Styles had the honour of having The Undertaker's last match with his defeat at WrestleMania 36 four years ago.
He has also attempted to prize Shawn Michaels out of retirement for a match and he's chased down Triple H, too. Although he was unsuccessful both times, he did get Edge at WrestleMania, but who else can he face?
'I mean, who is left? The Rock is around,' Styles pondered.
'In my head, and I could be wrong, but having his last match, I think with Cody it doesn't get much bigger than that. If it were me, that would be my last match.
'If I was involved as much as he is in Hollywood, I doubt he's going go have time. There are others there. There still is John Cena who is around doing his thing.
'These guys are so busy with Hollywood I can't imagine they have enough time for a WrestleMania. I know that's sad to say because they are wrestlers at heart but at the same time, I get it.'
Styles already has a long, famous history with Cena. The pair made magic together back in 2016 into 2017, a time where they had arguably the greatest match of Styles WWE run at the Royal Rumble.
Cena defeated Styles in an all-time classic at the 2017 Royal Rumble
Styles agrees with that notion and his pride shines through as soon as we mention it.
'What people don't realise is, we never left the ring,' Style starts. 'We knew that there was going to be a couple of matches that left the ring so we just stayed in it.
'Until you watch it back, you don't realise like 'holy crap! They never went to the floor! They never did stuff on the floor' - we kept it all in the ring. To me, in this day and age, that's hard to do.'
LA Knight was lucky enough to work with Styles at WrestleMania this year, but Styles did battle Edge at the 38th iteration of the event in Dallas.
Styles wishes Edge hadn't of turned heel during their dream feud in 2022
That was the day the Judgement Day began to form as Damien Priest got himself involved in the finish before Rhea Ripley did the same at the conclusion of the rematch.
Because of the heavy story developments, did that take anything away from the dream match Styles hoped for?
'It was a dream feud but in the wrong context of what it should have been done,' Styles insisted. 'Edge should have never been a heel. He wasn't a guy that you looked at as a bad guy.
'That's the only thing I would have changed. Otherwise we had fun, but it was just a different dynamic.'
Clash at the Castle: Scotland airs live from the Hydro Glasgow, Saturday June 15th, tune in on the WWE Network and TNT Sports Box Office.
