AJ Styles out with shoulder injury, still hopeful for WWE WrestleMania
This post was updated at 4:45 PM Eastern on February 3rd.
According to Dave Meltzer, AJ Styles is still hopeful and in the plans for this year’s WrestleMania.
On last Wednesday’s Wrestling Observer Radio (sub needed), Meltzer said Styles was optimistically four-to-six weeks away from a full recovery. Styles got injured taking a bump off an Edge spear at the Royal Rumble, reportedly separating his shoulder in the process.
WWE put out a brief post saying Styles is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury but is recovering “way ahead” of doctors’ projections.
Styles didn’t blame Edge for the injury as he wanted to take a big bump for the move and just landed wrong.
The 42-year-old did miss time after last year’s WrestleMania due to a hip injury following his match with Randy Orton, but the former WWE Champion has generally been a durable wrestler for the company.
For those looking ahead, the current WrestleMania card for both announced and expected matches is as follows:
- WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre
- WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns
- NXT Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair
- Edge vs. Randy Orton
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.