CM Punk Reveals How He Convinced AJ Lee To Make WWE Return
CM Punk reveals what made AJ Lee return to WWE.
WWE officially announced Lee’s retirement from in-ring competition on April 3, 2015. She retired primarily due to severe neck injuries she sustained during her wrestling career.
She revealed in interviews that she had herniated three discs in her cervical spine just days before her last match, which severely limited her movement and caused numbness in her hands. The Geek Goddess had stated that she felt very complete with her career and was comfortable retiring at that point because she had achieved what she wanted professionally.
After retiring, she focused on roles such as writing, executive producing, and commentary for Women of Wrestling (WOW), as well as personal ventures like creating graphic novels. Despite ongoing public speculation and fan hope for a return, she was initially very sure about her retirement decision and did not feel the need to come back.
CM Punk Made AJ Lee Realize Her Greatness
But AJ Lee did return to WWE ten years later on SmackDown earlier this month. Speaking to ESPN’s SportsCenter, her husband CM Punk revealed how he convinced her to return to WWE.
CM Punk said, “Because husband-wife, like do I give her advice? True. Maybe. Does she listen? I don’t know. It honestly was one of those things where I told her that place was 180 degrees, maybe 360, I don’t know, different than when she left it. And all these wrestlers that really grew up watching her, got into the business because of her, were inspired to follow their dreams because she followed hers on such a grand stage.”
“Like they were all in the company now. And I just thought it would have been a great way for her to see and understand how great she is and how much she’s loved. So that’s the other fun part of being around and witnessing it. And I just had to kind of explain, like you got to see it to believe it,” CM Punk added. (From 1:45)
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