CM Punk squashes talk of AJ Lee returning to the ring

CM Punk’s return to pro wrestling led some - including AEW Women’s champion Britt Baker - to wonder if maybe his wife April “AJ Lee” Mendez might follow his lead. Punk himself may have inadvertently fueled speculation when he followed up a tease of Bryan Danielson’s arrival to AEW during his in-ring interview on Dynamite last week with a shout out to Mendez.

But during his chat with the New York Post’s Joseph Staszewski this week, Punk pumped the brakes on the idea:

“I just want to say, no. Just because [of] her neck. The reason she stopped wrestling is because of her neck. She’s got a bad neck, you know. I wouldn’t want her to jeopardize [her] health and neither would she, so we’ll put an end to that rumor right now.”

Mendez, a former WWE Divas champion & Raw General Manager, hasn’t ruled out a comeback, but she’s definitely downplayed the idea on several occasions because of her injury history.

And hey, not wrestling doesn’t mean she couldn’t do something in AEW. Managing, commentating (even on a guest star basis)... her hubby doesn’t specifically rule those out. From everything we’ve seen since AJ walked away from the business though, she’s very happy focusing on her writing career and advocating for animal shelters & mental health.

As long as she’s good, wrestling will be good whether she ever decides to grace it with her presence again.