AJ Lee Reveals Real Reason For WWE Return
AJ Lee has a good reason for coming back to WWE.
The WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion, AJ Lee, has done nothing but win since returning to the company in September 2025.
At Wrestlepalooza in September 2025, Lynch teamed up with her husband, CM Punk, to beat Becky Lynch and her husband, Seth Rollins. The winning ways continued at Survivor Series, where Lee was a key part of the Women’s WarGames team that won.
In her first WWE singles match in over a decade, AJ Lee beat Becky Lynch to become the Women’s Intercontinental Champion at Elimination Chamber. Lee has also beaten Bayley in her first title defense.
After walking away from WWE post-WrestleMania 31 in 2015, AJ Lee was somebody fans wanted to see again for a long time. As she explained to The Takedown on SI, a major reason Lee is back in WWE is the overwhelming support from her fans.
“I knew that coming back was the right decision because of my fans.
I was getting these lines that were legitimately seven hours long and that’s when I realized, oh, they’re still here. There’s still this hunger here. This support that only comes with wrestling.
It only comes with this really loyal fanbase who watched me from day one, were a part of the mission statement of underdogs for the win and stuck with me, and were waiting for me to come back. And… to be able to give them a title run and a Mania match, has been incredibly meaningful.”
AJ Lee Is Focused On Telling The Best Story Possible
In her rivalry with Becky Lynch, the story is about proving who the better woman is. While Lynch has dominated WWE for most of the last decade, Lee was away from the company. Lee is showing that not only can she hang with Lynch, but she is better than Lynch, too.
For AJ Lee, telling a story that interests the fans is what really matters.
“It’s all about telling the best story that keeps people captivated the entire time. And there’s a lot of it you cannot plan for. It has to feel organic, it has to feel like you are communicating with the audience in real time. And that [is] something I feel has always been something I’m in tune with and is probably a big part of my success.
Making sure their hearts are with us. And so far, they’ve just been so into this rivalry with me and Becky, and to feel that passion, you can feel like heat when you’re in the ring. You feel it in your skin. So that’s exciting. I just want people to continue that sort of ravenous hunger for this match-up.”
WWE WrestleMania 42 takes place on April 18 & April 19 in Las Vegas. Here’s the lineup so far.
Saturday, April 18 Matches
- WWE Undisputed Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Randy Orton
- WWE Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Liv Morgan
- Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
- Women’s Intercontinental Championship: AJ Lee (c) vs. Becky Lynch
- Women’s Tag Team Championships: Irresistible Forces – Nia Jax & Lash Legend (c) vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. The Bella Twins – Nikki & Brie Bella vs. Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
- Unsanctioned Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu (Match Will Also Air On ESPN 2 In First Hour)
- LA Knight and The Usos – Jimmy & Jey Uso vs. The Vision – Logan Paul & Austin Theory and IShowSpeed (Match Will Also Air On ESPN 2 In First Hour)
Sunday, April 19 Matches
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Roman Reigns
- WWE Women’s Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
- United States Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Trick Williams
- “Demon” Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio
- Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Penta (c) vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Dragon Lee vs. Rusev vs. JD McDonagh vs. Rey Mysterio (Match Will Also Air On ESPN In First Hour)
- Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar (Match Will Also Air On ESPN In First Hour)
WrestleMania 42 will STREAM LIVE Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, 2026, at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT on ESPN in the United States and Netflix everywhere else.
