When retired, semi-retired, and part-time pro wrestlers are asked about returning to the ring, they usually offer some version of “never say never”.
There’s a version of that in April “AJ Lee” Mendez’s answer when Cheryl Strayed asks “what’s next in your wrestling career?” toward the end of Mendez’s appearance on iHeart Women’s Sports’ Mind Over Mountain podcast. She mixes that into a more writerly answer about wanting the right story for her next run. It seems like an answer we’re used to hearing
from big-time actors when they’re asked about returning to an old role in a big franchise. The former Divas and Women’s Intercontinental champ isn’t the first wrestling star to mention it, so we may start hearing it more and more.
Anyway, AJ said:
“We’ll see. There was a piece of me where I was just like, ‘I just need a little time.’ When I did, I was like, ‘I’m still kind of killing it.’ I’m confident in what I can bring, but I feel like I’m also story-driven.
“If there is a story there, that’s going to be the thing that excites me. If it’s something new that I haven’t done and feels like breaking ground, that is what is interesting to me. We’ll see. I’m going to keep writing, working out, and staying ready.”
After WrestleMania 42, AJ said she wasn’t done, but didn’t know when she’d be back. This is similar. Rumor-wise, there have’s been mentions of her returning, but nothing about when.
Other than “writing, working out, and staying ready”, Mendez posted this update about her summer on Instagram:
been learning to play d&d, watching my big head on a big screen, writing with my sister wives, borrowing puppies, and gaining five pounds in happy carbs.
Have any questions about Mendez’s work in the independent short film, It’s Complicated? How about those Tiramisu cookies? “Sister wives”?
Or just want to talk about when or if AJ Lee will be back? The comments below work for all that.
