A major WWE return has been a topic of conversation in creative meetings as of late.
The main event of WWE: Clash in Paris on August 31st saw Seth Rollins retain the World Heavyweight Championship against CM Punk, Jey Uso, and LA Knight, with Rollins’ wife Becky Lynch attacking Punk to give her husband the win.
As a result, speculation has ramped up regarding a potential return to the ring for AJ Lee. Fightful Select have now provided an update on that prospect, revealing that the former Divas Champion’s name is said to have been brought up in recent creative pitches.
“WWE sources have indicated that AJ Lee’s name has been brought up in numerous pitches internally of late. Lee, the wife of current WWE star CM Punk, has largely been uninterested in making a return to the ring over the past ten years. Becky Lynch interfered in the main event of WWE Clash in Paris, helping her husband Seth Rollins. Immediately upon that happening, we received messages from WWE sources hopeful that the pitches they’ve been hearing about were related to that. We’ve also heard that some of those pitches weren’t quite shut down like they used to be.”
-Fightful Select
Whilst Fightful Select were unable to confirm an impending return, they did note that WWE sources claim there has been more traction on it of late than in previous years.
AJ Lee (real name April Mendez) joined Women of Wrestling (WOW) as an executive producer in October 2021, which additionally led to a role as a colour commentator from September 2022 before she departed the promotion in August 2023 following the end of her season-long contract.
According to the report, Mendez made it clear to WOW at the time that she wasn’t interested in an in-ring return, whilst members of AEW’s women’s roster would half-jokingly needled CM Punk about a potential return during his spell with the company.
Additionally, Fightful Select noted that one higher up in WWE had dismissed concerns about her time away from the ring for numerous reasons, one of which being that she looks just like she did when she initially left the company, with another being that her husband also returned to the ring following a lengthy absence.
AJ Lee has last competed as a professional wrestler in March 2015 and has been considered retired for over a decade at this stage. Fightful highlighted that whilst those who worked with the former WWE Superstar on ‘Heels’ claimed she seemed nervous about getting back to the ring, they also stated that once she got involved it was like she’d never left.
Currently 38 years old, AJ Lee is a former three-time WWE Divas Champion, and with many fans often crediting her as one of the catalysts for the ‘Women’s Revolution’, it would certainly be interesting to see her step into the ring with the stars of today.
With Punk seemingly needing an ally to take down both Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, and with fans recently spotting him skipping around the ring during WWE’s European tour as an ode to his wife, could AJ Lee’s return to the company finally be on the horizon?
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the prospect of AJ Lee returning to WWE as soon as we hear more.
