AJ Styles says WWE should consider spacing out its Hall of Fame ceremonies, arguing the event could work better every other year than on an annual schedule. He made the case during a recent episode of the Phenomenally Retro Podcast, saying the current pace makes it harder to keep the ceremony feeling special.
Styles said WWE could put some years between inductions and that doing the Hall of Fame every year would be difficult. He pointed to WrestleMania as an example, saying there is a reason it now runs over two nights. One-night WrestleMania, he said, was difficult because there were so many matches, and nobody wanted to be in the main event because everyone was cooked.
The Hall of Fame is currently treated as an annual WWE tradition, but Styles argued that a little distance could add weight to the honors. He said speeches may already come with time limits of no longer than 30 minutes, yet an hour and a half later a speaker can still be wrapping up. Styles said he understands the impulse once someone reaches the podium, because even the shortest speech can grow when the subject is personal.
That discussion lands at a moment when Styles himself is set to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2026 following SmackDown. He will go in alongside Stephanie McMahon, Demolition, Dennis Rodman, Sycho Sid and Bad News Brown, making his comments about the ceremony’s length and rhythm part observation, part preview of his own night.
The question now is not whether Styles will have thoughts when his turn comes, but whether WWE will ever seriously consider his suggestion. If the company keeps treating the Hall of Fame as a yearly fixture, the tension he described — between honoring the moment and stretching it too far — is likely to keep coming back with it.