AJ Styles Says He and Dragon Lee Were Finally Starting to Click As A WWE Tag Team

By Jitu Jangir

August 24, 2026 at 10:03 PM IST

11.9K

2 min read

AJ Styles Says He and Dragon Lee Were Finally Starting to Click As A WWE Tag Team

AJ Styles has reflected on his partnership with Dragon Lee, accepting that the pair were beginning to understand each other inside the ring just as their run together was nearing its end. Styles and Lee first teamed on the August 11, 2025 episode of Raw, where they faced Dominik Mysterio and El Grande Americano. The pairing initially brought together two wrestlers who shared a fast-paced style but had little experience working as a regular team.

Their partnership soon moved into the World Tag Team Championship picture. On October 20, 2025, Styles and Lee defeated Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh of The Judgment Day to capture the titles. During an episode of The AJ Styles Show, Styles was told that Dragon Lee had recently spoken about wishing they had received more time together. Styles agreed and explained that working with Lee became easier as their partnership developed.

“We started clicking for sure, man. It was fun, and he was—I mean, an easy guy to work with. It wasn’t like we struggled to work with each other. It was easy.”

Styles and Lee held the World Tag Team Championship for 70 days. During their reign, they successfully defended the titles against Bálor and McDonagh, The New Day and The War Raiders. The team also defeated Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13, 2025. That match gave the champions an opportunity to work against two younger wrestlers associated with NXT and TNA.

Styles and Lee’s title reign ended on the December 29 episode of Raw. The Usos defeated them after countering their double-stomp and Styles Clash combination before hitting 1-D on Styles. Their partnership ended soon afterward when Styles returned to singles competition. He entered a rivalry with Gunther after The Ring General bragged about forcing John Cena to submit in Cena’s retirement match.

Styles eventually placed his own career on the line against Gunther at the 2026 Royal Rumble. His retirement meant that WWE could not continue developing his team with Lee or give them an opportunity to regain the World Tag Team Championship. Dragon Lee remained connected to his former partner after Styles stepped away. When Gunther interrupted a tribute to Styles on the February 23 episode of Raw, Lee attacked him and attempted to defend the man with whom he had held championship gold.