Another WWE retirement appears to be imminent after a superstar accidentally leaked the news in a Instagram post which has been taken down.
December saw 17-time world champion and arguably the greatest of all time, John Cena, call time on his illustrious in-ring career after more than two decades.
Cena had a retirement tour throughout 2025 and was involved in a number of dream matches - including two bouts with Cody Rhodes for the undisputed WWE championship.
However, the 48-year-old was sent into retirement by Gunther in Washington, D.C, tapping out to the Austrian's sleeper holder submission in his final ever match and leaving his jorts and sweatbands in the ring.
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The 'Ring General' had previously retired WCW icon Goldberg and looks set to make it a hat-trick when he takes on another legend in AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble.
The match has already been made, with Styles forced to retire if he loses as part of the career-threatening stipulation Gunther demanded.
Styles, one of the the most gifted in-ring performers of all time, has already confirmed he will retire in 2026.
But it seems as though Shinsuke Nakamura, one of his rivals in Japan and WWE, has jumped the gun.
The two competed in a classic at Saturday Night's Main Event in Montreal and shared an emotional embrace in the ring after Styles picked up the win.
A day on after the encounter, Nakamura took to his Instagram to post a lengthy tribute to Styles and titled the story slide, "The diary I wrote the day before”.
In it, the Japanese said that Styles dropped the retirement bombshell on him during a tour of his native country, writing: "The tour continued to Japan, and before the shows there, I asked him something. We were in a van on the way to the meet and greet.
"I asked him, ‘When are you going to retire?’ He answered, ‘The Royal Rumble. I’ve already decided.’"
He also explained that he demanded one more bout with Styles before he hung up his boots, calling it "my last chance to give him the perfect send off".
The post effectively spoiled the result of Gunther vs Styles and has since been deleted by Nakamura - but not before it caught huge traction amongst wrestling fans and media.
Styles and Nakamura put the wrestling world on notice in January 2016 when they stole the show at New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom and both later moved to WWE.
Largely associated with TNA, Styles debuted at the Royal Rumble a decade ago and went on to have another Hall of Fame career - becoming the 22nd Grand Slam champion.
Speaking to Tokyo Sports in September, Styles had said he "decided to retire before my body can no longer move" and that a post-retirement role in WWE may be on the cards.
Style claimed it "might be good to train young wrestlers to be worthy of being on the main roster".
Josh Lawless