AJ Styles Negotiating New Deal With WWE, Looking For Reduced Schedule

AJ Styles is believed to be negotiating a new deal with WWE. According to a report from Fightful, Styles is looking for a reduced schedule on a new 3-year deal.

Styles is said to have pushed for his losing of the WWE title recently as a result of the amount of time being champion was causing him to be on the road. The deal he is looking for is said to be similar to Randy Orton’s, where he would work television but a limited amount of house shows.

There have been rumors as of late that NJPW has sent feelers to WWE talent about possibly jumping ship. Styles could potentially be someone NJPW is interested in bringing back. Speculation is NJPW reached out to Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, and Shinsuke Nakamura, who all also signed 3-year deals with NJPW in 2016 at the same time as Styles did.

Styles first signed with WWE in 2016, following a negotiation session with NJPW, WWE, and the former management of TNA Wrestling. Before he left NJPW, he was kicked out of Bullet Club and lost at Wrestle Kingdom to Shinsuke Nakamura.

He debuted in WWE at the Royal Rumble in 2016. Styles would win his first WWE Championship that September. He defeated Dean Ambrose for the belt at Backlash that year. Style’s first run as WWE Champion lasted until the Royall Rumble when he lost the belt to John Cena. It would take him over 10 months to win the title back, defeating Jinder Mahal in Manchester in November of 2017.