AJ Lee Opens Up On Mental Health Struggles As A Kid

AJ Lee returned to WWE on September 5, 2025, during SmackDown in Chicago after being away from wrestling for a decade.

Following her return, Lee revealed she had a hard time deciding to step back into the spotlight because she has anxiety issues. She has been very open about her mental health struggles and has confessed how difficult it was for her to have so much attention on her after being away from the wrestling industry for a long time.

Even in her latest appearance on SmackDown, The Geek Goddess was emotional and nervous backstage before making her appearance on the show. But over the years, she’s learned to manage her anxiety with the help of therapy.

AJ Lee Had Social Anxiety Since She Was A Child

In a recent interview with Stephanie McMahon’s What’s Your Story? podcast, AJ Lee revealed she has been experiencing anxiety problems since she was a child. She used to feel very isolated as a kid and had trouble making friends.

This is the worst feeling in the world, to feel isolated, to feel alone. [Even alone in your own mind?] Yeah, I have really bad anxiety. I have really bad social anxiety. It’s always been very hard for me to make friends and find my…

I very much grew up as the kid that didn’t have, you know, my table in the cafeteria. So the goal in life is always like, okay, you don’t have to fit at somebody else’s table. This is, I’m just going to build my own f**king table and everyone’s invited.

The Black Widow last wrestled in WWE at Wrestlepalooza, where she teamed up with her husband to take on the husband-wife duo of Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch. She scored the big win for her team by making Lynch tap out to her submission move.

On the latest episode of Friday Night SmackDown, it was announced that AJ Lee will join Rhea Ripley’s team as the fifth and final member for the upcoming women’s WarGames match at Survivor Series on November 29.

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