{"id":204116,"date":"2025-09-08T12:09:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=204116"},"modified":"2025-09-08T12:13:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T17:13:45","slug":"aj-lee-expresses-gratitude-to-her-fans-in-her-first-public-statement-since-her-return-details-on-future-plans-for-her-in-wwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/09\/08\/aj-lee-expresses-gratitude-to-her-fans-in-her-first-public-statement-since-her-return-details-on-future-plans-for-her-in-wwe\/","title":{"rendered":"AJ Lee expresses gratitude to her fans in her first public statement since her return, details on future plans for her in WWE"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3199941494\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>A.J. Lee (April Jeanette Mendez) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheAJMendez\/status\/1965083478489477236\">posted on social media<\/a> today appreciation for her fans. &#8220;You&#8217;ve had my back for a decade,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;This run is for you, my wonderful weirdos.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The 38 year old retired WWE wrestler made her return to WWE rings on Friday live on WWE Smackdown on USA Network as part of a storyline to offset Becky Lynch in a feud with Becky&#8217;s husband Seth Rollins and her husband C.M. Punk.<\/p>\n<p>Lee is beloved by WWE fans for her independent, outspoken, charismatic spirit that she brought to her ring entrance, promos, and matches during her run as an active WWE wrestler from March 2011 to April 2015. She also had a run as Raw G.M.<\/p>\n<p>She held the Divas Championship for 295 days, a record length at the time. She took the first half of 2014 off. In February 2015, during the &#8220;Gives Divas a Chance&#8221; movement, she criticized WWE for not featuring and paying women comparably to men. Stephanie McMahon publicly expressed appreciation for Lee&#8217;s statement.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Smackdown: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/wwe-smackdown-post-show-9-5-parks-machado-talk-john-cena-s-final-smackdown-zayn-s-u-s-title-challenge-aj-lee-s-return-more--67651458\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cwade Keller\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN POST-SHOW (9\/5) - Parks &amp; Machado talk John Cena's final Smackdown, Zayn's U.S. Title Challenge, AJ Lee's return, more\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=67651458&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Lee ultimately said she felt awkward given her husband&#8217;s C.M. Punk&#8217;s falling out with WWE and subsequent lawsuit. When she retired, she cited a cervical spine injury as a contributing reason.<\/p>\n<p>She got back into pro wrestling behind the scenes in 2021, spending a couple years as executive producer Women of Wrestling and did color commentary on the TV show.<\/p>\n<p>Lee was greeted with a &#8220;hero&#8217;s welcome&#8221; on Friday as a counter to the obnoxious Becky Lynch, who had slapped her husband over a dozen time just days earlier.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1085904684\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>A.J. Lee (April Jeanette Mendez) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheAJMendez\/status\/1965083478489477236\">posted on social media<\/a> today appreciation for her fans. &#8220;You&#8217;ve had my back for a decade,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;This run is for you, my wonderful weirdos.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The 38 year old retired WWE wrestler made her return to WWE rings on Friday live on WWE Smackdown on USA Network as part of a storyline to offset Becky Lynch in a feud with Becky&#8217;s husband Seth Rollins and her husband C.M. Punk.<\/p>\n<p>Lee is beloved by WWE fans for her independent, outspoken, charismatic spirit that she brought to her ring entrance, promos, and matches during her run as an active WWE wrestler from March 2011 to April 2015. She also had a run as Raw G.M.<\/p>\n<p>She held the Divas Championship for 295 days, a record length at the time. She took the first half of 2014 off. In February 2015, during the &#8220;Gives Divas a Chance&#8221; movement, she criticized WWE for not featuring and paying women comparably to men. Stephanie McMahon publicly expressed appreciation for Lee&#8217;s statement.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Smackdown: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/wwe-smackdown-post-show-9-5-parks-machado-talk-john-cena-s-final-smackdown-zayn-s-u-s-title-challenge-aj-lee-s-return-more--67651458\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cwade Keller\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN POST-SHOW (9\/5) - Parks &amp; Machado talk John Cena's final Smackdown, Zayn's U.S. Title Challenge, AJ Lee's return, more\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=67651458&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Lee ultimately said she felt awkward given her husband&#8217;s C.M. Punk&#8217;s falling out with WWE and subsequent lawsuit. When she retired, she cited a cervical spine injury as a contributing reason.<\/p>\n<p>She got back into pro wrestling behind the scenes in 2021, spending a couple years as executive producer Women of Wrestling and did color commentary on the TV show.<\/p>\n<p>Lee was greeted with a &#8220;hero&#8217;s welcome&#8221; on Friday as a counter to the obnoxious Becky Lynch, who had slapped her husband over a dozen time just days earlier.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1379126608\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Lee, now 38, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TripleH\/status\/1964162084284899355\">signed a full-time, multi-year contract<\/a> with WWE so this return isn&#8217;t just for a one-off special match. She is advertised to appear tonight on Raw where the match with Punk against Lynch &amp; Rollins is expected to be hyped for WrestlePalooza on Sept. 20 on ESPN.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wade Keller Post-show (9\/5) - WWE Smackdown w\/Parks &amp; Machado\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DLSA3KZjb-U?start=4&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-922270753\"><div id=\"pwtor-2081200183\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>A.J. Lee (April Jeanette Mendez) posted on social media today appreciation for her fans. &#8220;You&#8217;ve had my back for a decade,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;This run is for you, my wonderful weirdos.&#8221; The 38 year old <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/09\/08\/aj-lee-expresses-gratitude-to-her-fans-in-her-first-public-statement-since-her-return-details-on-future-plans-for-her-in-wwe\/\" title=\"AJ Lee expresses gratitude to her fans in her first public statement since her return, details on future plans for her in WWE\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":204117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prowrestlingnews","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-08-at-11.51.47-AM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204116"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204119,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204116\/revisions\/204119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}