Welcome to the “AJ Styles Says Farewell” edition of The Wrestling List.
Tonight’s Raw closed the show with the AJ Styles tribute in Atlanta. Very classy moment tonight with the whole thing. It was fun seeing so many names there including Abyss back in full Abyss gear. That was pretty awesome. WWE did an awesome music video tribute bringing back an old throw back song that they used years ago for a music video and that was Creed’s “Higher”. It went very well with the video. AJ got a big ovation walking out and also chants in the ring. He talked of his career and I love that he brought up Daniels and Joe cause those three are always going to be rightfully tied together with their X Division matches in TNA. He spoke about his wife and family who were there in the front row with him sending a ton of his love to his wife for how strong of a wife and mom she is while he was on the road missing so many moments with their kids. He said he’s excited to be home and be dad now. He talked about his wife saying she never pulled him back and always encouraged him to push forward. He mentioned the hand gear saying he saved it wanting to put the gear down in the ring in Atlanta so he laid that and his jacket down in the ring. The backstage emptied walking on the stage to applaud Styles. Then we hear the Undertaker gong with the lights going out. Undertaker makes his way to the ring giving the surprise to Styles that he will be going into the Hall of Fame this year. Awesome moment here especially even more so with the history of Styles being Taker’s final opponent. Styles celebrated with his family to close the show out. Just really great seeing Styles honored like he did. AJ Styles is just timeless. The first time I saw AJ Styles was during the short lived WWA promotion in February 2002. He was part of a six man match and he just put on a show and a half in it. I was thinking who is this guy cause he’s fun! The next time I’d see AJ Styles would be during the very first TNA show on PPV in June 2002 followed by him winning becoming the first ever X Division the next week. Styles would be a regular in my wrestling world from that year and beyond. I remember when I’d get Ring of Honor VHS and DVD’s back in that early 2000’s era and one of the first people I’d look for is AJ Styles to see who he was going to work against on these shows when deciding what tapes or DVD’s I wanted to buy. This would continue too with the TNA shows. If I saw AJ vs Daniels, AJ vs Joe, or AJ vs Daniels vs Joe, I was in for it. Still true with watching the old stuff now too. Those three guys will always be connected with how they built that X Division. If you saw any combo of those three, you knew it was going to be in a word, phenomenal. Styles would go on to become TNA champion as well and when I think of that company, AJ Styles is always going to be the face of it for me. Then, we got the surprise moment with the debut in WWE at the 2016 Royal Rumble. I let out a big cheer at home in front of the TV and he got a monster pop there in the building. I wasn’t sure how his WWE run was going to go because, well, Vince is Vince. He tends to not know how to book great in ring talent like Styles. We got Styles vs Cena and it was awesome. Styles got several nice title runs and he was the face of Smackdown Live for a long time. He got the honor of being Undertaker’s final opponent. When we got to this year’s Rumble, I had heard Cena talk about how low key that Styles wanted to go out. I’m thinking well, this could very well be it. However, I thought I don’t think it is. I was wrong and that match would be his last to my shock face of wow, it’s over. The question had been on whether he would just call it a WWE career but then go do some final matches somewhere else. Selfishly, I wanted to see a few TNA matches for him. After tonight, it sure does feel like he’s done completely. I got to meet AJ Styles back in 2009 after a TNA house show and he could not have been nicer. When I walked in the ring for the meet and greet, he welcomed me with a happy welcoming hello. He had a big smile on his face as he asked me “do you want to wear the belt for the picture?” Uhhh, yeah I do! So, he puts the TNA championship belt on my shoulder and we take our picture together. Just a moment I’ve never forgotten with how nice he was. We’ll get one more AJ Styles moment with the Hall of Fame coming up and he’ll get even more well deserved love on him from his peers and fans. Thank you AJ Styles. You’re an all timer and we all appreciate you. Thank you AJ (Clap, clap, clap, clap clap) Thank you AJ (Clap, clap, clap, clap clap)
Let’s talk about the rest of Raw. Geez, The Vision just feels cursed. My goodness. Yet another injury to that group. Bronson Reed was injured tonight during the chamber qualifying match and they announced it was a bicep injury adding he’d be out indefinitely. Jey Uso gets the win moving on to the Elimination Chamber match. Liv Morgan seems to have picked her WrestleMania opponent bringing out both champions and she seemed to pick her opponent with a shot to the face of Stephanie. The story is that Stephanie got under Liv’s skin last week with the things she said about Liv. Brock Lesnar returned with Paul Heyman announcing an open challenge for WrestleMania to be Brock’s opponent. They then put on the screen of what his upcoming schedule would be of when someone could step up. My gut says this ends up being Oba Femi but we’ll see. Raquel Rodriquez got the win for the qualifier for the Chamber defeating Iyo and Kairi.
WWE continues to have trouble selling WrestleMania tickets. They just seem to continue to completely ignore the fact that the tickets are too high priced. I think there are three factors including that. The other is that the creative build hasn’t been great of late but I feel like it has been some better in recent weeks as we got to the Chamber build. Another factor is that you are going back to a location where fans have already been there done that with the location last year. Somewhere New Orleans is smiling watching tickets sell so slow when they got their Mania taken away from them. TKO really needs to wake up and realize you can’t just keep charging car prices for tickets. Yeah, I’m exaggerating there. Well, actually no, I’m not now that I think about it. LOL. Your prices are insane and when you have families being a lot of your target audience, they can’t afford to go. This isn’t just about Mania. It’s about all shows. When they keep announcing record live event gates in smaller buildings, that tells you all you need to know. They’ll say record gate followed by me saying this little 15,000 seater??? What did you charge these people???!! I keep hoping TKO and WWE are going to get the message that prices are too high but but they just continue to be determined to want to take, take, take from fans. It’s going to catch up and it already is.
Here is the lineup for this Saturday’s Elimination Chamber from Chicago and I’m looking forward to it more than I was the Rumble. CM Punk defends the title against Finn Balor. Becky Lynch defends the Intercontinental title against AJ Lee. Men’s Elimination Chamber match with the winner facing Drew McIntyre as it will be Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton vs Je’Von Evans vs Trick Williams vs LA Knight vs Jey Uso. The women’s Chamber match will be Tiffany Stratton vs Alexa Bliss vs Asuka vs Kiana James vs Rhea Ripley vs Raquel Rodriguez with the winner facing Jade Cargill.
The full roster has been announced for WWE 2K26 with it being the usual mix of current superstars and legends. Here is a list of the roster:
- Abyss
- Adam Pearce
- Adrian Butler
- Afa
- AJ Lee
- AJ Styles
- Akira Tozawa
- Alba Fyre
- Aleister Black
- Alex Shelley
- Alexa Bliss
- Alicia Taylor
- Alundra Blayze
- Andre Chase
- Andre The Giant
- Angel
- Angelo Dawkins
- Apollo Crews
- Armando Alejandro Estrada
- Asuka
- Austin Theory
- Ava
- Axiom
- B-Fab
- Batista
- Bayley
- Becky Lynch
- Berto
- Bianca Belair
- Big E
- Big Poppa Pump
- Billy Graham
- Billy Gunn
- Blake Monroe
- Bobby Heenan
- Boogeyman
- Booker T (Announcer model)
- Booker T
- Bray Wyatt
- Bret Hart
- British Bulldog
- Brock Lesnar
- Bron Breakker
- Bronson Reed
- Brooks Jensen
- Brother Love
- Brutus Creed
- Bubba Ray Dudley
- Bull Nakano
- Byron Saxton
- Cactus Jack
- Candice LeRae
- Captain Lou Albano
- Carmelo Hayes
- Cathy Kelley
- Chad Gable
- Chad Patton
- Channing Lorenzo
- Charles Robinson
- Charlie Dempsey
- Charlotte Flair
- Chelsea Green
- Chip Danning
- Chris Sabin
- Chyna
- CM Punk
- “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes
- Corey Graves
- Cruz Del Toro
- D-Von Dudley
- D’Lo Brown
- Dallas Irvin
- Damian Priest
- Dan Engler
- Danilo Anfibio
- Daphanie LaShaunn
- Demon Finn Balor
- Derek Sanders
- Dexter Lumis
- Diamond Dallas Page
- Diesel
- Doink The Clown
- Dominik Mysterio
- Dragon Lee
- Drew McIntyre
- Dude Love
- Dusty Rhodes
- Eddie Guerrero
- Eddie Orengo
- El Grande Americano
- El Hijo del Vikingo – Ringside Pass Season 1
- Elton Prince
- Eric Bischoff
- Erick Rowan
- Erik
- Ethan Page
- Eve Torres
- Faarooq
- Fallon Henley
- Felix Hernandez
- Finn Bálor
- Flammer – Ringside Pass Season 1
- Gary Wilson
- Giulia
- Goldberg
- Grayson Waller
- Gunther
- Haku
- Hank Walker
- Hollywood Hogan
- Honky Tonk Man
- Hulk Hogan
- Hunter Hearst Helmsley
- Ilja Dragunov
- Ivar
- Ivy Nile
- Iyo Sky
- Izzi Dame
- Jacob Fatu
- Jacy Jayne
- Jade Cargill
- Jaida Parker
- Jamal
- Jason Ayers
- Jazmyn Nyx
- JBL
- JC Mateo
- JD McDonagh
- Je’Von Evans
- Jean Paul Levesque
- Jeremy Macus
- Jesse Ventura
- Jessika Carr
- Jey Uso
- Jim Neidhart
- Jimmy Hart
- Jimmy Uso
- Joaquin Wilde
- Joe Gacy
- Joe Hendry
- Joey Gonzalez
- John Cena
- John Cone
- Johnny Gargano
- Jordynne Grace
- Josh Briggs
- Julius Creed
- Junkyard Dog
- Kairi Sane
- Kane
- Karmen Petrovic
- Kelani Jordan
- Ken Shamrock
- Kevin Nash
- Kevin Owens
- Kiana James
- Kit Wilson
- Kofi Kingston
- Kurt Angle
- LA Knight
- Lash Legend
- Lex Luger
- Lexis King
- Lita
- Liv Morgan
- Logan Paul
- Lola Vice
- Ludwig Kaiser
- Lyra Valkyria
- Mankind
- Mark Henry
- Maryse
- Maxxine Dupri
- Michael Cole
- Michelle McCool
- Michin
- Mike Rome
- Miss Elizabeth
- Molly Holly
- Montez Ford
- Mosh
- Mr. Fuji
- Mr. Iguana – Ringside Pass Season 1
- Mr. Perfect
- Myles Borne
- Naomi
- Natalya
- Nathan Frazer
- New Jack
- Nia Jax
- Nick Aldis
- Nikki Bella
- Nikki Cross
- Nikkita Lyons
- Noam Dar
- Oba Femi
- Omos
- Original El Grande Americano
- Otis
- Pat McAfee
- Paul Bearer
- Paul Heyman
- Paul Orndorff
- Penta
- Pete Dunne
- Piper Niven
- Psycho Clown – Ringside Pass Season 1
- R-Truth
- Randy Orton
- Randy Savage
- Raquel Rodriguez
- Razor Ramon
- Réy Fenix
- Rey Mysterio
- Rhea Ripley
- Rick Rude
- Rick Steiner
- Ricky Saints
- Ridge Holland
- Rikishi
- Road Dogg
- Rob Van Dam
- Rocky Maivia
- Roddy Piper
- Roman Reigns
- Rosey
- Roxanne Perez
- Rusev
- Sami Zayn
- Sandman
- Santos Escobar
- Scott Hall
- Scott Steiner
- Sensational Sherri
- Seth “”Freakin”” Rollins
- Shawn Bennett
- Shawn Michaels
- Shawn Spears
- Sheamus
- Shinsuke Nakamura
- Sid Justice
- Sika
- Sol Ruca
- Solo Sikoa
- Stacy Keibler
- Stephanie McMahon
- Stephanie Vaquer
- “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
- Syxx
- Talla Tonga
- Tama
- Tama Tonga
- Tank Ledger
- Tatum Paxley
- Tavion Heights
- Teddy Long
- Terry Funk
- The Fiend
- The Great Khali
- The Great Muta
- The Hurricane
- The Iron Sheik
- The Miz
- The Rock
- Thea Hail
- Thrasher
- Tiffany Stratton
- Tito Santana
- Tommaso Ciampa
- Tonga Loa
- Tony D’Angelo
- Trick Williams
- Triple H
- Trish Stratus
- Tyler Bate
- Tyler Breeze
- Ultimate Warrior
- Umaga
- Uncle Howdy
- Undertaker
- Vader
- Victoria
- Victoria D’EriccoÂ
- Wade Barrett
- Wade Barrett (Announcer model)
- Wendy Choo
- William Regal
- Wren Sinclair
- X-Pac
- Xavier Woods
- Yokozuna
- Yoshiki InamuraÂ
- Zaria
- Zelina Vega
- Zoey Stark
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