AJ Lee says WWE had a pretty simple reason for wanting her back after 10 years away — she could still bring eyeballs.
The former Divas Champion opened up during a conversation with iHeart Women’s Sports about what she believes was really behind WWE reaching out for her return. While the story was there, AJ said she also looked at the situation from a business standpoint and believes WWE knew she could help draw attention to its new relationship with ESPN.
“Um, I guess the story was there. Um, very like business my business sense as there was like a new TV show that they were uh needed to promote like a new relationship with ESPN.”
AJ didn’t stop there. She pointed straight to her track record in WWE and said her character had already proven she could deliver where it mattered — ratings and merchandise.
“I’ve always been a character that has delivered very high ratings and very high merchandise sales.”
That kind of value doesn’t disappear just because somebody walks away for a decade, at least not in AJ’s case. She said her fans continued following and supporting her through everything she did outside wrestling, giving WWE something it could count on if she came back.
“But there’s a reliability of this character and and God bless my fans like they in any business I’ve gone to, they’ve followed me and like kind of supported me consistently and it’s never wavered.”
AJ believes WWE knew exactly what that loyalty could mean when it needed more people paying attention.
“And so I think they knew I was I would bring that support to this like event that needed more eyeballs. Um, and the story was there.”
That’s a pretty revealing explanation for why WWE went back after someone who had spent a full decade away from the ring. AJ isn’t framing the comeback as some random nostalgia play — she believes WWE knew her name still carried business value and could immediately bring more attention to what the company was trying to push.
AJ Lee may have disappeared from WWE television for 10 years, but she clearly doesn’t believe her drawing power disappeared with her. WWE wanted more eyeballs, AJ believes she could deliver them, and that made picking up the phone a whole lot easier.
Do you think AJ Lee was one of WWE’s biggest proven draws from her era, and do you believe she still has that same pull today? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
