AJ Mendez aka AJ Lee IMAGO / NurPhoto

AJ Lee Explains Her Decision To Come Back To WWE After A Decade Away

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Rick Ucchino | Last updated Sep 17, 2025 5:17 PM ET

AJ Lee is just days away from her first wrestling match in over a decade.

The former WWE Divas Champion will team up with her husband, CM Punk, to take on Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch in a power couple showdown at the first-ever WWE Wrestlepalooza.

The Premium Live Event will be the first to stream live on ESPN DTC as part of the company's new five-year partnership with WWE, and AJ Lee appeared on Sportscenter Wednesday afternoon to promote the show and explain her decision to come back to wrestling after all these years away from the ring.

“It’s sort of been something that was in the air for the past couple of years as an option. However, when I retired, I was very comfortable staying retired and I felt very complete in my career. I’ve always set to do something, to embark on a new journey, it has to feel brand new and feel like I’m needed and it has to feel exciting and kind of scary."

Lee's 'surprise' return on the September 5 edition of SmackDown in Chicago sent shockwaves across the professional wrestling industry and dominated WWE's social media numbers for that week.

AJ called the reception to her comeback both a surreal and humbling experience, while she also expounded upon this new ESPN era of WWE programming being the type of challenge that she needed to find wrestling once again.

"Starting this new chapter on ESPN feels like a whole new mountain the company needs to climb, and I was flattered that they believed that I could help draw eyeballs in that way. Also, Becky is very interesting to me. I think she’s wonderful in the ring and we have a lot of similarities. She would not be an easy person to get back in the ring with. That was exciting."

The topic of ring rust was something that was brought up during the interview, and Lee admitted that it is a very legitimate concern. Albeit one she can use to her advantage.

"It's been ten years. I try to stretch as much as I can, but don't you really know what's gonna happen when you get out there. But in the same way that does feel kind of scary, and as Becky said a liability in one way, I think it's an asset. I am unpredictable. I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm out there."

Lee joked that she may just braid Becky's hair when she gets tagged into the match, or she might do something a bit more violent - like bite her face. She also brought up the possibility of a four-way kiss going down, but it would probably be extremely hard to convince the other three people in the match to partake in such an activity.