If you were hoping AJ Lee was among the 30 entrants in the Women’s Royal Rumble match earlier this month, you want to see the champ return just as much as Naomi does.
Naomi’s career is closely linked to Lee’s, as the two shared the ring a total of 90 times over their careers. Both wrestlers spent three years in WWE developmental brand FCW from 2009 to 2011 and continued to cross paths in the years that followed on WWE’s main brands as well.
Naomi, a WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion alongside Bianca Belair, recently expressed the hope that Lee could find her way back to a WWE ring someday, even if it’s just for a one-off appearance.
During a recent appearance on The Wrestling Classic, Naomi joked that she has been nagging Lee’s husband, CM Punk, to bring her back.
“‘You need to tell her I can’t retire until she comes back,'” Naomi recalled saying to Punk. “Girl, you need to come on because Mama’s back is hurting. My back is hurting. [Laughs]. I can’t retire until she’s back … It’s crazy, for her to be gone over a decade and to still be missed, and to still be wanted so bad, I think speaks volumes and just tells you what she did for women’s wrestling and who she was. So, I think it’d be a treat, a present, a reward for all of us, having her come back, even if it’s just a ‘Hey’ and “Bye.”
Lee’s last in-ring appearance dates back to nearly a decade ago when she worked alongside Naomi and Paige to defeat Natalya and The Bella Twins. She made her return to wrestling in a backstage role a few years back, working as an executive producer for Women of Wrestling from 2021 to 2023.
