AJ Lee made an incredible return to the world of WWE recently, and before what sounded like a goodbye at WrestleMania 42, the star said she had no expectations for how her return would go.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated ahead of what would be a losing effort against Becky Lynch at WrestleMania, Lee was asked if she had any expectations going into her WWE return, which came during an episode of WWE SmackDown in September 2025.
Lee said she had absolutely no expectations, as she was at a much different part of her life then than she was when she first started to get into the world of wrestling.
“Zero expectations. I think I very much was, you know, at a different point of my life where I could just enjoy it and have fun. And I think in my 20s, I was literally this kid off the street, and so, everything was survival and I was just such a little aggressive Chihuahua trying to prove myself in the world. And, that was necessary, and that got me where I needed to go, and like I’ve always kind of been that fighter anytime I had this dream I want to achieve. But now to be able to be my adult self and, I know who I am, I know what I’ve done.
“I can walk into this place with a new kind of confidence and a calmness of just being a grown ass woman, and there is a different level to performing in that way with that mindset of yeah, I know what I can do. And so it makes it a little bit more fun. I get to really just enjoy and soak up the moments versus kind of feeling like you’re scrapping every day back then.”
Lee would go on to have a successful return run in WWE, culminating in winning the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship against Lynch at Elimination Chamber. Lee would lose the belt at WrestleMania 42, though, and following her match, seemed to hint that she wouldn’t be as active in the world of WWE or wrestling going forward. It remains to be seen just what she’ll be up to going forward, though.
