It has been confirmed that AJ Lee has opened up about why she largely avoided professional wrestling during her decade away from the ring, comparing her relationship with the industry to a painful breakup.
During an appearance on Mind Over Mountain with Cheryl Strayed, Lee was asked whether she continued following wrestling during her lengthy absence. “It felt like a relationship,” Lee said. She brought to light that she deliberately kept her distance. “I’m not the type of person that is going to stalk my ex on social media. I never watched any wrestling, and I stayed far away from it.”
Lee retired from wrestling in 2015 and turned her attention toward her mental health and other projects before eventually returning to WWE in 2025.
Her previous experiences in the business also parted ways with her dealing with difficult memories. A sense of heartbreak, lee explained that while she had fallen deeply in love with professional wrestling. “A piece of me was like, so much of my heart was in it, and I fell in love with it, and there was a wealth of trauma back then,” she continued. Building on that, a little bit of the moment was that I had a broken heart.” “It wasn’t a considerably healthy place.
Her perspective began to change after her husband, CM Punk, returned to wrestling. Lee eventually watched one of his WWE appearances and came away particularly impressed by the women’s division. However, Punk suffered an injury during the event, and Lee jokingly admitted that she began associating her decision to watch with what happened.
“Did I want to go there and think about it, and my husband went back to wrestling,” Lee conveyed. “I watched a show that he did. The women were so amazing, and it was like, ‘This is really cool.’ He got hurt on that show — and I was like, ‘I’m never f**king watching again.’ I thought it was subpar juju. ‘I shouldn’t have.’ I got really weird about it then, and I didn’t want to watch.”
Lee ultimately overcame that distance from wrestling and returned to WWE in 2025, teaming with Punk against Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch at the inaugural WWE WrestlePalooza premium live event.
After competing again during her comeback run, Lee stepped away from the ring following her showdown at The Grandest Stage of Them All 42.