The finish to the main event of the WWE Clash in Paris premium live event has added fuel to the fire of speculation surrounding a potential in-ring return for former Divas Champion, AJ Lee. A new report from Fightful Select has provided backstage details on the situation, noting that there is “more traction on it of late than in previous years.”
The main event of the show saw Seth Rollins retain his World Heavyweight Championship in a fatal four-way match. The finish came when Becky Lynch, Rollins’s wife, interfered and delivered a low blow to CM Punk, allowing Rollins to get the win. The angle immediately led to fan speculation about a potential mixed tag team match pitting Rollins and Lynch against Punk and his wife, AJ Lee.
According to the Fightful Select report, the speculation is not just coming from the fans. “WWE sources have indicated that AJ Lee’s name has been brought up in numerous pitches internally of late,” the report states. It was also noted that some of those pitches “weren’t quite shut down like they used to be.”
While the report makes it clear that a return is not confirmed, the interference from Lynch at Clash in Paris has WWE sources “hopeful that the pitches they’ve been hearing about were related to that.”
The report also notes that CM Punk recently did an ode to his wife at a European live event by skipping around the ring in her signature style. It was also mentioned that when she worked for WOW Women of Wrestling, she was not interested in an in-ring role. However, a WWE higher-up is reportedly not concerned about her long layoff, noting that she has stayed in great shape and that her husband also made a successful return after a long time away from the ring.
AJ Lee has been effectively retired from the ring for over a decade, with her last match taking place in March 2015. The increased “traction” on the idea of her return, combined with the on-screen storyline, has made her potential comeback one of the most talked-about stories in wrestling.