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AJ Lee made her long-awaited return to the WWE on Friday night.
Lee appeared on “Friday Night SmackDown” to provide some backup for her real-life husband, CM Punk, as his feud with Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch exploded over the last week.
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AJ Lee makes her entrance during SmackDown at Allstate Arena on Sept. 5, 2025 in Rosemont, Illinois. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
Lynch cost Punk the World Heavyweight Championship at Clash in Paris last weekend and then berated him during a segment on “Monday Night Raw” earlier this week. Punk teased that he had something up his sleeve going into Friday’s show.
Punk and Lynch addressed each other in the ring.
“Becky, this is exactly the situation I wanted to avoid,” he said, “because you know and I know and everyone knows, I would never put my hands on a lady. Thankfully, I got somebody who will.”
Punk turned around and Lee’s entrance music hit. The fans in Chicago were thrown into a frenzy. Lynch was stunned as Lee made her way down to the ring.
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AJ Lee in action against Becky Lynch during SmackDown at Allstate Arena on Sept. 5, 2025 in Rosemont, Illinois. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
Lee didn’t have much to say. She let her hands do most of the talking. She and Lynch scrapped in the ring before the women’s intercontinental champion scurried a way with help from her real-life husband, Seth Rollins.
Lee has not been seen in the WWE since she retired in April 2015. It was more than a year after Punk controversially left the company. Lee was involved in Women of Wrestling, a Jeanie Buss-backed promotion, but didn’t return to in-ring action.
AJ Lee returns to SmackDown at Allstate Arena on September 5, 2025 in Rosemont, Illinois. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
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So, more than 10 years later, she’s back and a part of one of the biggest feuds ongoing in WWE.
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