WWE fans are on tenterhooks wondering if tonight is the night AJ Lee makes her longawaited return.
The 38-year-old superstar quit the company and retired from wrestling in 2015, and hasn’t stepped in the ring for a match since as she set her sights on life away from the squared circle.
Tonight, SmackDown is airing from Chicago, the hometown of her husband CM Punk, and all signs point to a sensational comeback for the former Divas Champion.
Fans have been clamouring for a return for years, but things really picked up steam after WWE’s recent shows in France with a rumoured tag team match featuring Punk and AJ at Wrestlepalooza on September 20.
At Clash In Paris on Sunday, Becky Lynch helped her husband Seth Rollins overcome CM Punk to cling onto the World Heavyweight Championship.
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The next night on Raw, The Man confronted Punk and slapped him, before the Second City Saint told Adam Pearce backstage that it was ‘interesting’ Friday’s show will be in Chicago.
Not only that, it’s at the Allstate Arena – the same arena where AJ beat Kaitlyn for the Divas Title at Payback 2013.
There has been plenty of speculation since then, as Fightful Select reported WWE was ‘planning an AJ Lee return to the ring at WrestlePalooza, and a return on-screen imminently’.
The outlet added that ‘there had been a number of pitches internally for AJ Lee’, while sources ‘heavily implied’ to the outlet that she will either ‘be appearing or referenced’ on SmackDown tonight.
Will AJ Lee return to WWE tonight?
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Yes, light it up!
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No, never happening
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Not yet – but she’ll be at Wrestlepalooza
It’s said there have been overtures made through Punk in the past, but now the time appears right for a comeback.
AJ Lee’s marriage to CM Punk
If AJ Lee does return, she’ll be reunited with her husband, CM Punk.
The two actually became an on-screen couple first in 2012, but two years later life imitated art as the loved up couple tied the knot a few months after he walked out of WWE.
The loved up couple have adorable dog Larry together, while Punk still wears a fan-made bracelet with their names on when he’s on WWE television.
Punk has suggested he and AJ make sure not to ‘work out’ or ‘work together’, although she has made it clear she’s open to the possibility, while they were both involved in season 2 of wrestling drama Heels.
‘Oh my gosh, I think the key to being married for 12 years is that we don’t work together,’ she laughed at San Diego Comic-Con over the summer.
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‘But yeah, it’d be really cool. “Never say never” is what I say to all the things when people ask me where I’m going to work. But yeah, he’s a really good writer and a really good artist — acting and wrestling.’
When was AJ Lee’s last WWE match?
AJ Lee hasn’t wrestled since March 30, 2015, which was the Raw after that year’s WrestleMania.
At WrestleMania 31, she and Paige beat the Bella Twins, and then the next night they teamed up with Naomi to beat Nikki and Brie Bella, and their partner Natalya.
Just a few days later, WWE said in a statement: ‘AJ Lee (April Mendez) has decided to retire from in-ring competition with WWE. We wish AJ the very best.’
Why did AJ Lee leave WWE?
In her 2017 memoir Crazy Is My Superpower, AJ noted her decision to retire was influence by a few factors.
As well as damage to her cervical spine and achieving a lot of the goals she’d set herself, she also felt ‘stuck in the middle’ between Punk and WWE after his acrimonious exit the year before.
However, Punk’s own sensational comeback to WWE in November 2023 meant bridges were being mended, and nothing is impossible.
She’s been a huge success away from the ring, forging a writing partnership with Aimee Garcia.
As well as their work on Dungeons & Dragons four-issue series At The Spine of the World, the pair recently released their graphic novel Day of the Dead Girl.
Best AJ Lee matches in WWE on Netflix
With AJ possibly returning to the ring, here a few of her best matches you can find on Netflix.
- WrestleMania 31: Paige and AJ Lee vs. The Bella Twins
- SummerSlam 2014: AJ Lee vs. Paige
- Night of Champions 2014: AJ Lee vs. Paige vs. Nikki Bella
- Payback 2013: AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn
She’s still had some involvement in wrestling too, having joined Women of Wrestling (WOW) as an executive producer and later a colour commentator until her departure in August 2023.
While her return always seemed unlikely, WWE kept the door open over the years even before reconciling with Punk.
Boss Triple H – real name Paul Levesque – and his wife Stephanie McMahon suggested nothing was impossible as far back as 2020.
At the time, Stephanie told Metro: ‘I personally enjoy watching both of them perform. I think Punk’s been pretty vocal that he’s not interested in an in-ring return right now, but for sure, that would be interesting.
‘And I would love to see AJ Lee back in the women’s division.’
WWE SmackDown airs live tonight at 1am on Netflix.
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