Add as a preferred source on Google AJ Lee, who returned to WWE in 2025 after ten years away from the ring, revealed that she was surprised by how pro wrestling now handles mental health.
In a recent interview on The Match-Up, the former Divas Champion said her final year as an active wrestler, before retiring in 2015, was the worst year of her life in that regard. Since then, Lee has become a public advocate for mental health and wrote Crazy Is My Superpower.
Lee noted that, when negotiating her in-ring return, one of her first concerns was whether her mental health would be protected inside the company.
“I couldn’t even reveal my diagnosis ten years ago. Now, that’s part of my contract.”
AJ Lee spoke about how she was ‘genuinely and pleasantly’ surprised to see how treatment of mental health issues had shifted in pro wrestling since her retirement from the ring.
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) June 3, 2026
“I’m really proud of how far it’s come because… I’ve been pretty open about how like my last year… pic.twitter.com/EPp8AnwenK
The comment stands out because AJ returned to WWE programming on the September 5, 2025 episode of SmackDown in Chicago, helping CM Punk against Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch. A few weeks later, at Wrestlepalooza, she wrestled her first WWE match in ten years.
AJ also pointed to cultural, economic, and access-related barriers to treatment, especially for Latino communities, as one of the reasons she continues to speak publicly about the subject.
Lee had already used her return to TV to talk about therapy and treatment, making the issue a direct part of her new WWE run.