Bully Ray Doesn't Believe 'A F***ing Bit' Of Triple H's Comments About AJ Styles

With a loss to former World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER, the storied career of AJ Styles came to an end at the 2026 WWE Royal Rumble. According to WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque on the Royal Rumble post-show, Styles personally made it clear that he was keen on retiring from in-ring competition, largely due to his heart not being invested in it anymore. Based on his own conversations with "The Phenomenal One," though, WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray highly doubts that to be the case.

"Until I hear AJ Styles say out of his own mouth, 'My heart just isn't in it anymore,' I don't believe a f***ing bit of it," Ray said on "Busted Open Radio." "I'll tell you what. TNA's first show on AMC, I was with AJ Styles. I talked to him in the locker room. I talked to him while he was doing some other things that day. I will tell you right now, I don't agree with Triple H's assessment about AJ Styles' heart just not being in it anymore.

"... At his age, maybe the career is winding down. Maybe [he] can't perform at the level I want to anymore, which doesn't seem to be the case because we saw his match against Cena, his match against Nakamura, his match against Punk. We saw his match against GUNTHER. Does that look like a man whose heart is not in it anymore? Bulls***."

As Ray alluded to, the final months of Styles' in-ring journey included bouts with fellow WWE stars John Cena, Shinsuke Nakamura, and CM Punk, with the latter revolving around the World Heavyweight Championship. Still, even being done at the age of 48, Styles' performances were widely praised by wrestling pundits and fans.

"'When I hear somebody say 'he made it very clear,' I'm assuming that AJ said to you, Trips, 'My heart just isn't in it anymore.' Anything about AJ's game, does he look like his heart is not in it anymore?" Ray asked. "He didn't tell me that. He didn't tell me, 'Bubba, my heart's just not in this anymore.' He didn't allude to that. I didn't get that vibe, that feeling, none of that. Would I say that AJ Styles, after doing this for 25, 30 years at the level of physicality and travel, it might be like 'Bubba, I'm tired.' That, I understand."

As a part of TNA Wrestling's AMC debut on January 15, Styles opened "Thursday Night iMPACT" encouraging fans and the TNA roster to kick off the company's new era by creating chaos. Backstage, Styles then teased the possibility of pursuing the TNA World Championship again. Meanwhile, Ray served as the special guest commentator for the main event TNA World Championship match between Frankie Kazarian and Mike Santana.

11 days later on "WWE Raw," Styles proclaimed that he wanted to taste a world title at least one more time before he officially hung up his boots. He additionally noted that was interested in wrestling old foes, some of which work for other promotions, once more as well.

In Ray's eyes, Triple H potentially made the remark about Styles' apparent lack of enthusiasm as a way to dissuade him from working elsewhere following his final WWE match. "It almost sounds like, that comment, 'His heart's not in it anymore' [means] 'I hope he doesn't go to AEW or back to TNA,'" Ray said.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.