Wrestling legend urges WWE to take a shocking risk with AJ Styles in his final year (Exclusive)

Former WWE writer Vince Russo recently suggested a groundbreaking idea for AJ Styles. The 48-year-old star is part of the RAW roster.

During a recent interview, The Phenomenal One mentioned that 2026 will be his last year in the business. Styles mentioned that he wanted to spend more time with his family and avoid the embarrassment of not being able to perform in the ring.

During this week's episode of Writing with Russo, the veteran writer noted that WWE should do something out of the ordinary with Styles. He felt the company could trade him to AEW. Russo mentioned that Styles had worked with every major name in WWE, but there were some stars in the Tony Khan-led company with whom he could have some stellar matches. The veteran writer felt the two promotions could reach an agreement to benefit each other.

"I swear to God, bro, to do something different, if I was AJ Styles, I would do the storyline, I want to be traded to AEW. I worked with everybody here on this roster. This is my last year here. There's a lot of guys there I want to work with. And I legitimately would make a trade," Russo said.

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Russo also added that WWE could bring Adam Copeland, aka Edge, back into their ranks with the trade. He felt the change would be something different for the fans.

AJ Styles is currently one-half of the World Tag Team Champions with Dragon Lee. The duo defeated Judgment Day members Finn Balor and JD McDonagh last week on RAW to win the title.

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About the author

Prityush is a WWE news writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling who started watching wrestling in the later part of The Attitude Era. Although he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Prityush was a creative writer for his college, and his flair for creativity and love of pro wrestling eventually led him to the journalism field. After an initial stint in 2016-2017, he has been writing regularly for Sportskeeda since 2021.

As someone who loves and respects the business, he prides himself on factual, clean, and ethical reporting, free of plagiarism and AI usage. One of the ways he ensures this is by transcribing videos that he reports on.

Prityush had the privilege of interviewing superstar Matt Hardy in his career so far. Although, his favorite wrestler is CM Punk, as he relates to his Straight Edge philosophy.

When he is not reporting news, he loves reading and collecting WWE action figures. He currently owns over 500 wrestling figures and merchandise.

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Edited by Prityush Haldar