The AllState Arena in Chicago, Illinois, came unglued last night in the wake of the much-anticipated return of AJ Lee on WWE SmackDown. It marked more than 10 years since the pioneer female wrestler had set foot in a WWE ring to seek vengeance on her husband, CM Punk’s behalf.
As reported earlier, one of the pivotal reasons to have AJ Lee back in the ring as early as possible was due to WWE wanting to hype things up ahead of the Wrestlepalooza 2025 premium live event, and they have already started cashing-in big on her debut appearances on the blue brand.
WWE released merchandise around AJ Lee as soon as she came back, and fans rushed to the WWE Shop website to grab some of it immediately. The online stat shows that within just an hour of her comeback, more than 5,000 t-shirts were sold. Overall, 6,500+ items from the “Love Bites Back” collection were also gone from the listed collection.
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AJ LEE IS BACK!!! 👏👏👏
Shop now ➡️ https://t.co/3z086ZCBId pic.twitter.com/gQAzIQm4bO
— WWE (@WWE) September 6, 2025
Pro-wrestling world reacts to AJ Lee’s return to WWE SmackDown
The return of AJ Lee had seemingly sent shockwaves throughout the professional wrestling world, and here are some of the reactions from her former colleagues and admirers from the WWE,
Bayley: LIGHT IT TF UP
Roxanne Perez: MOMMYS HOME
Cathy Kelley: the reason i started watching wrestling is back in wrestling
Alexa Bliss: (heart emoji)
Zelina Vega: As AJ’s music started playing, my legs started involuntarily skipping like it was 2017 all over again. Welcome home Queen, you were so so missed.
Saraya: I’m in Vegas with some friends BUT imma be glued to screen just as much as you guys are haha
In the final segment of the WWE SmackDown September 5 episode, AJ Lee came out to beat down Becky Lynch to avenge the assault by the Women’s Intercontinental Champion on her husband, CM Punk, at Clash in Paris and on Raw, this past Monday. Becky also put her hands on Punk last night, and she was sent right out of the ring with a slap by the returnee.
Thus, SmackDown marked more than a decade since AJ Lee had stepped foot in a WWE ring, choosing to retire due to neck injuries following WrestleMania 31. During her hiatus from wrestling, she wrote a few books and also became an advocate for mental health awareness. She briefly returned to wrestling in 2021 to join Women of Wrestling as an executive producer and color commentator before leaving in 2023.