Former three-time Divas Champion AJ Lee has responded to the outpouring of emotion from fans who witnessed her shocking return to WWE on Friday Night SmackDown. In a new social media post, Lee shared a compilation of streamer reaction videos and stated that the fans’ excitement “made her year.”
On the September 5th episode of SmackDown from her and her husband’s hometown of Chicago, AJ Lee made her historic return to the company. She came to the aid of CM Punk during a confrontation with Becky Lynch, taking out “The Man” and standing tall with her husband as the show went off the air. The moment was met with a thunderous ovation from the live crowd and an explosion of excitement online.
In a post on her X account on Monday, Lee shared a video that compiled a number of live reactions from streamers and YouTubers who were watching the moment unfold. In a separate post, she also reacted to an individual video from a streamer named MinniePortable, calling it “the cutest thing she’d ever seen besides Larry,” a reference to her and Punk’s beloved dog.
The return of AJ Lee is one of the biggest stories of the year in professional wrestling. She had been away from the ring since her retirement in March 2015 due to a neck injury. In the years since, she has built a successful career as a writer and mental health advocate, and many fans believed they would never see her in a wrestling ring again.
The on-screen rivalry between her husband, CM Punk, and the husband-and-wife duo of Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch has now become the top program on Raw. The stage is now set for a mixed tag team match.
The encounter between the two couples is scheduled to take place at the inaugural Wrestlepalooza premium live event on Saturday, September 20. Before that, Lee will be on tonight’s Raw alongside CM Punk for a face-to-face segment.
you all made my year https://t.co/Z4M8ejYlyk
— AJ Mendez (@TheAJMendez) September 15, 2025
my dark heart cannot take this https://t.co/PkJzbjoI2B
— AJ Mendez (@TheAJMendez) September 15, 2025
