AJ Lee quietly walked away from professional wrestling when she finished up with WWE in 2015. In the years that followed fans often wondered if she would ever make a comeback, and AJ Lee finally returned to WWE on the September 5, 2025 episode of SmackDown.
Following her return AJ Lee found herself involved in a heated feud with Becky Lynch. During their feud AJ Lee managed to win the Women’s Intercontinental Championship, but she eventually dropped the title back to Lynch when their rivalry wrapped up at WrestleMania.
While talking about her WWE return during an episode of The Nikki & Brie Show live at Fanatics Fest, Lee admitted that she didn’t think she would ever come back to wrestling because she didn’t want to tarnish her career.
“Did I ever think I was gonna come back? No. I think I was kind of, wrap stuff up in such a perfect bow, it just felt like I didn’t want to tarnish that in a way. It felt so completed. I didn’t feel like I had anything left to do.
And then seeing how the business evolved, I kind of saw it like when you’re a senior in high school and you graduate. You’re like, ‘I hope those freshmen have better teachers, or they get a field.’ You don’t expect it for you. So it was just an extra wonderful surprise and a treat to be like, ‘Oh, I get to hang out with this new class? That’s awesome!’”
Following her match with Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 42 it was reported that AJ Lee is done with WWE for now, but the company is said to hopeful that she will work more programs and matches in the future.