AJ Styles Explains Why Wins and Losses Don't Matter in Professional Wrestling

Do wins and losses really matter in professional wrestling? AJ Styles has now given his answer to that question.

The 2026 WWE Hall of Fame inductee and his co-host, Tony Giles, released a new episode of The Phenomenally Retro Podcast on Sunday. During which, they were asked a question by a fan about the booking of WWE talent. Finn Balor, in particular, whose win/loss record has not been indicative of his talent in recent years.

Styles took the opportunity to give his opinion about wrestling match results as a whole, saying that storylines usually dictate the outcome. And at the end of the day, it's a talent's job to carry out the booker's vision.

“Sometimes you’re not the story in the match. You’re just in the match," Styles said. "To tell you the truth, you probably wouldn’t remember whether or not I won or lost unless somebody went through and wrote it all down, because it’s not that important. Guys win and lose all the time. It’s best served where it’s at in the story. That’s what means the most to me."

Finn Balor is coming off a win at WrestleMania 42, where he defeated Dominik Mysterio in a really fun street fight. He then picked up a couple more victories over JD McDonagh before being traded to Friday Night SmackDown.

Balor wrestled his first match as a member of the Blue Brand this past Friday night. He was one of the competitors in a King of the Ring Fatal 4-Way Match, which was won by Jey Uso. That result was not met kindly online, as many members of the internet wrestling community would have preferred that Balor, LA Knight of Royce Keys picked up the win instead.

Wins and losses never really mattered to AJ Styles

Everyone is entitled to their opinion on wins and losses in professional wrestling. As an outsider looking in, I can say I personally wish they mattered more. AJ Styles said on Sunday that he could not care less about winning matches back when he was an active competitor in WWE.

"They don’t mean anything. This is a show. This is pure entertainment. This isn’t the UFC. That’s the biggest difference. Definitely the older I got, my job wasn’t to be the heavyweight champion of the world. Some people want that. Some people need that. I don't, I didn’t. My job was to make sure I get the younger talent over as well, if I could. And if they were older, who cares? I had a job to do. Unless I had a better idea of how to do it, then there’s no point in saying anything. Do your job. I’m not as concerned with that as much as the fans were.”

Styles wrestled the final match of his full-time wrestling career back at the Royal Rumble in January. He lost to Gunther, and per the stipulation of the match, was forced to retire from WWE.

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