AJ Lee has opened up on leaving her wrestling persona “behind the curtain.”
While many wrestlers portray a reflection of themselves in the ring, AJ Lee can’t imagine attempting to go out at events as AJ Mendez. The star explained on The Match-Up that she believes the healthiest thing to do is leave the character in the arena.
“I think that’s the healthiest thing is to leave yourself behind the curtain like that. (It’s) The only way I could ever do it, like if I had to go out there as AJ Mendez, I would just explode into dust, there’s just no way I could do it.
“You almost have to healthily disassociate and become this different character, and that’s the person that is performing and has all the storylines and the wins and the losses. They’re not you. You can’t take that home with you or take it personally. Also it’s like this art form you get to give to the world and then it’s not yours anymore.”
While the pieces of the persona come from her, Lee says the character is a form of “armor” that she needs as a pro wrestler.
“So they can dissect it and praise it or tear it apart or whatever they want to do. It’s because it’s part of the show, and so that’s the way I stay the healthiest. Yeah, like the pieces of her come from me, but it’s very much an armor of a character that needs to exist in order to do all of that.
“It has to be a performance and me has to be protected and not shared with the world in that capacity and so that’s kind of the only way to survive as long as I have in the public world. It’s so funny because it is almost the opposite, at least for me. I’m sure there’s wrestlers that it’s them 100 percent out there, but I don’t know. What do they do? Do they stare at the wall at the end of the night? I would be so drained. I would just have nothing left for myself.”
AJ Lee Has Not Appeared On WWE TV Since WrestleMania 42
After making her return to WWE in September 2025, AJ Lee engaged in a months-long feud with Becky Lynch that saw her defeating The Man for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship at Elimination Chamber in February. The rivalry culminated at WrestleMania 42, where Lynch recaptured the title, marking the end of Lee’s comeback.
Following the loss, AJ Lee sent a message to fans, promising that her absence was “not goodbye, but I’ll see you soon.” At the time of writing, it is unknown when Lee will return to WWE TV.
H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.
