AJ Styles has proven himself a consistently popular superstar ever since his phenomenal debut during the 2016 Royal Rumble. He has had a plethora of main event matches and some fantastic feuds during his time within the WWE, breaking records and rubbing shoulders with the greats along the way.

With supposed renewed interest from NJPW in bringing back a number of superstars that signed with the WWE, and AJ Styles’ contract due for renegotiation come April 2019, it’s fair to speculate over where the Phenomenal One will end up once his initial WWE contract has expired, especially as he just recently dropped the belt to Daniel Bryan, ending an impressive streak as WWE Champion.

Commenting on the subject recently was Mike Johnson, who addressed Styles’ current status with the WWE.

He observed that “[…] traditionally when someone’s deal is coming due they’re not really featured in a major way in a pay-per-view. Although there are exceptions to that,” he admitted. “Jeff Hardy being against CM Punk a few years ago and things of that nature, and Punk against John Cena where Punk could have left, so there are exceptions to the rule. It’s not a hard-rule.”

“But one would think WWE will start to downplay him a little bit if they don’t lock him into a longer-term deal. Those discussions are on-going now so we’ll see what happens.”

With real alternatives beginning to rear their head, it would be interesting to see where a number of these talents, including AJ, decide to call home in the future.