AJ Lee was comfortable being retired.
To the surprise of many, following a successful win at WrestleMania 31 against the Bella Twins, the former WWE Diva’s Champion retired following a six-woman tag team match the night after WrestleMania.
Many assumed that Lee’s retirement was attached to her dating the chick magnet herself, CM Punk. While that’s part of the reason, Lee revealed during her conversation with Renee Paquette on The Sessions that it was due to a neck injury.
“I herniated 3 discs in my cervical spine the week before this match, and couldn’t turn my head or feel my hands. The doctor asked me if I had been in a car crash, haha. @RealPaigeWWE protected me fiercely like a goddamn superhero (I think even helped dress me), so I heart her forever.”
Lee had gone on to be a writer, executive producer, and a commentator for WOW (Women of Wrestling). Though she still had some ties to professional wrestling, WWE seemed to be in her rearview mirror and the 38-year-old revealed during her ESPN Interview that she was perfectly fine with that.
“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 exciting and kind of scary. 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,”
It will be fun to see Lee return to the ring for the first time in ten years on Saturday at WrestlePalooza. Lee has reportedly signed a multi-year deal with WWE, so she’s around for quite some time and will mix it up with some of the modern wrestlers. Given the way she’s carried herself in the past couple of weeks, it should be fun to see Lee go toe-to-toe with the likes of Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, or her daughter, Roxanne Perez.