Ahead of her first match in over ten years, ESPN interviewed AJ Lee discussing her return, what brought her out of retirement and the mixed tag team match with CM Punk against Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins.
On the audience response to her return
"I was sort of imagining what that moment could be like and I in no way anticipated the response would be as humbling and amazing as it has been. So I still feel a little bit like I’ve disassociated, I’m just imagining all this, and it’s been pretty cool."
On coming out of retirement
"It’s sort of been something that was in the air for the past couple of years as an option. However, when I retired, I was very comfortable staying retired and I felt very complete in my career. So I’ve always said to do something, to embark on a new journey, it has to feel brand new, it has to feel like I’m needed, it has to feel exciting and kind of scary. And so starting this new chapter on ESPN feels like a whole new mountain the company needs to climb and I was flattered that they believed that I could help sort of draw eyeballs in that way."
Facing Becky Lynch in her first match back
"Becky is very interesting to me. I think that she’s wonderful in the ring and we have a lot of similarities and she would not be an easy person to get back in the ring with."
On if she has concerns of being rusty in the ring
"I mean, yes. It’s been 10 years. I try to stretch as much as I can, but you don’t really know what’s going to happen when you get out there."
