After a 10-year hiatus, AJ Lee returned to WWEtwo weeks ago and reunited with her real-life husband CM Punk to assist him in his feud with Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch. While Lee was away from the ring, she was often rumored to reappear in the Royal Rumble or make a surprise return at WrestleMania, but in a recent interview with "ESPN," the three-time Divas Champion revealed why she decided to stay retired for the past decade.
"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. So, I've always said to do something to embark on a new journey, it has to feel brand new. It has to feel like I'm needed. It has to feel exciting and kind of scary. And so starting this new chapter on ESPN feels like a whole new mountain the company needs to climb and I'm flattered that they believed that I could help sort of draw eyeballs in that way."
Lee continued to share that Lynch being her main on-screen adversary played a role when deciding if she wanted to return to WWE, stating that she viewed getting in the ring with "The Man" as a challenge."Becky is very interesting to me. I think that she's wonderful in the ring and we have a lot of similarities and she would not be an easy person to get back in the ring with. So, that was exciting."
This upcoming Saturday, Lee and Punk will enter battle with Lynch and Rollins in a Mixed Tag Team Match at WWE Wrestlepalooza, which will be the company's first premium live event to stream on ESPN.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "ESPN" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
