00:00Big changes coming to WWE and AEW's commentary teams, my reaction to AJ Lee's WWE return,
00:07all the backstage details on her new contract, and more.
00:11I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:19After first being teased on last Sunday's Clash in Paris show, and getting all but confirmed
00:23when Becky Lynch slapped CM Punk across the face on the following Monday's Raw, AJ Lee
00:28did indeed return to WWE on Friday's episode of SmackDown, and we can play some exclusive
00:35footage of that moment.
00:50Why did I have that haircut back then?
00:53It's so weird how I used to shave the front parts of my hairline for stylistic, not balding
00:58reasons.
00:59AJ's return came in the final segment of Friday's SmackDown, where Seth Rollins first appeared
01:04in the Chicago crowd Shield style, if the Shield were dressed by Magatu from Zoolander, to introduce
01:10his just as orange dressed wife Becky Lynch.
01:12Lynch then expertly riled up the crowd who are already chanting for AJ Lee with your local
01:18sports team heat, for CM Punk himself to come down.
01:22He called Seth a coward for keeping his distance in the crowd, and then teased a bunch of women
01:27who could come down to beat up Becky for him, like Bayley or Rhea Ripley, because, crucially,
01:33Punk said he would never lay his hands on a woman.
01:36Presumably either ruling out or setting up an eventual GTS on Lynch spot at WrestlePalooza.
01:41But thankfully for Punk, right now, there is someone he knows who would beat up Becky Lynch.
01:47Baron Corbin!
01:49I mean AJ Lee, whose music hit to a thunderous reaction from the hometown crowd.
01:54Here's a clip.
01:55Lee then skipped down to the ring, looking like she hadn't aged a day, crop top abs included,
02:14to then brawl with Lynch, slapping her across the face, leading Lynch to flee the ring in
02:19the arms of her husband.
02:21Overall, it was an excellent segment that built the huge intergender tag match for WrestlePalooza
02:26even more.
02:26The choice of Chicago to bring back Lee in, in this kind of angle, was perfect.
02:31And because WWE didn't book AJ to say anything on the mic here, there's even more of a reason
02:37to tune into tonight's Raw, for which she's advertised for her first big return promo.
02:42But how did we get here?
02:44Just in case you weren't around 15 years ago, AJ worked her way through Florida Championship
02:49Wrestling, which was NXT before it was called NXT, and NXT itself in the late noughties
02:54and early 2010s.
02:56In fact, coincidentally, it was 15 years ago yesterday, the 7th of September 2010, where
03:02Lee made her NXT debut in the weird game show era of the brand, where Primo was her mentor.
03:09Remember Primo?
03:11Who she developed an onscreen relationship with kissing in the finale, which would become part
03:16of her long-term character, as she would then be booked in romance storylines with Daniel Bryan,
03:20CM Punk Kane, and John Cena.
03:22But in real life, she only had eyes for Punk.
03:25The couple started dating following their onscreen storyline, and went public in 2013.
03:30Unfortunately for them, Punk left WWE the following January under very unhappy circumstances,
03:36and Lee, by her own admission, was caught in the middle.
03:40And then, in what we're all definitely sure was totally a coincidence, WWE delivered Punk's
03:46official termination letters on the day of his and Lee's wedding, while Lee was still under
03:51contract with the company.
03:52Lee also started to speak out against WWE while she was working there, criticising the booking
03:58of the women's division and how the female performers didn't get enough screen time or pay
04:03as compared to the men's division.
04:05You could argue this was the start of the actual women's revolution, and not when Stephanie
04:09McMahon invented women the following year.
04:11She would end up retiring from wrestling two months later, with the Raw after WrestleMania 31
04:16unceremoniously being her last match.
04:19In her autobiography, she said it was because of a spine injury, but also because she felt
04:23caught in the middle between WWE and Punk, as that feud was growing even more intense with
04:28the Dr Chris-A-Man libel case.
04:31Lee seemed content to pursue a career outside of wrestling.
04:34She published her memoir Crazy Is My Superpower, co-wrote comics and screenplays,
04:38and became an advocate for mental health awareness.
04:41Even when Punk returned to wrestling with AEW in 2021, Lee's name was never seriously reported
04:47as joining him.
04:48But now, almost two years after Punk's WWE return, AJ Lee has put her crop top back on.
04:55There are many possible reasons why.
04:57She could miss wrestling.
04:59She might have unfinished business in WWE.
05:01She could want to work with a whole new generation of women wrestlers who look up to her.
05:05She might want to win the famous Intercontinental Championship she didn't grow up watching.
05:09She could just want the opportunity to work on screen with her real life husband.
05:14It could be any of those.
05:15It could be all of those.
05:17We don't know yet.
05:18She hasn't cut her promo.
05:19But we do know this from the reports.
05:21It's likely… for a lot of money.
05:24And she'll be positioned as one of the top stars on Raw, as Bodyslam.net have reported.
05:30AJ Lee has signed a multi-year, full-time contract with WWE.
05:33This isn't a one-off cameo or a nostalgia pop.
05:36AJ is back for real, and she's ready to shake up the women's division all over again.
05:42And while the first storyline is the power couple grudge match of her and Punk against
05:46Becky and Seth, the program spinning out of it looks set to be for a championship.
05:52As after SmackDown went off air, with Becky and Seth fleeing up the ramp, WWE have released
05:57footage of Lee picking up Lynch's Intercontinental title that she'd left in the ring.
06:01Skipping around with it.
06:02Showing it to CM Punk.
06:04Running back down to the ring.
06:05And posing with it in the corner.
06:07Here's a clip.
06:20According to Fightful Select, Lee's return was kept secret from everyone backstage.
06:24Just like Brock Lesnar, who also made a surprise appearance on the episode, she was kept off
06:28the running order sheets for SmackDown.
06:31Nevertheless, we all knew it was happening, so the backstage area was described as a curtain
06:36sellout, as pretty much the entire locker room wanted to watch her return on the production monitors.
06:41Naomi, who made her debut on that same game show episode of NXT as AJ, tweeted,
06:46Those SmackDown newbies don't deserve to share a locker room with AJ.
06:49If I was there, I would throw them heifer's bags in the hallway.
06:52Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
06:54CAUTION SIGN!
06:55Roxanne Perez, who has become Punk and AJ's pseudo-adopted daughter, posted,
06:59Mummy's home.
07:01Five black card emojis!
07:03Bayley, who is very close friends with Lee, tweeted a video of the arena when she returned,
07:07and the caption, Light it TF up!
07:10And, of course, we got the obligatory Triple H pointing photo to welcome Lee back into the company.
07:16With bonus CM Punk!
07:17It's really exciting, as women's wrestling has progressed significantly since AJ Lee last wrestled.
07:24But you can't say that anymore.
07:26During the Clash in Paris pre-show last Sunday, Barrett questioned whether Nikki
07:30Bella would be able to hang with the current WWE women's roster ahead of her Becky Lynch IC
07:35title match that night, given how much the Lady Grapp's has progressed since the Divas era.
07:40This annoyed Nikki Bella, as she said on her podcast.
07:43I would love to have a conversation with Wade Barrett.
07:45He avoided me on Monday, which was shocking because he always comes up and says hi to me.
07:50He tried to avoid making eye contact with me in the hallway.
07:53And honestly, that stuff really doesn't bother me, because I get it.
07:56I was watching the pre-show, and I saw what Wade was saying about me even on the pre-show,
08:01and I was sitting there getting ready in the locker room like, oh, okay, that's fine,
08:06but replying to WrestleTalk.com's write-up of that story.
08:10Wade to WrestleTalk confirmed, Barrett has said on Twitter.
08:14I had no idea Nicole felt this way, and I'm happy to have this conversation anytime she likes.
08:20I wish she'd brought it up when we said hello to each other at Raw rather than via
08:24her podcast.
08:25I don't understand the avoiding claim at all.
08:27Simply not true.
08:28But how are you going to have a podcast episode if you just deal with it there and then?
08:32Thankfully, the two have now sorted it out in private, as Wade has since posted,
08:36Great news, fight fans!
08:38Nikki and I have spoken, we've smoothed things over, and I've graciously been allowed back
08:42into the Bella army.
08:44Fully paid-up member since FCW 2008.
08:47A difference of perspective, to which we are all entitled.
08:50But to be clear, some of the personal abuse that gets sent to Nikki on here is reprehensible.
08:55And completely out of line.
08:56So let's cut that out immediately.
08:58And Nikki agreed, sharing.
09:00Lol yes, great news.
09:01Sorry, been off X this week.
09:03Thank you, Stu.
09:04This all has been so wild.
09:06Sorry for not coming to you first before chatting with Bri on the pod.
09:09Was not expecting any of this.
09:11You know how much love I have for you, and loved our chat.
09:14So excited for you.
09:15Enjoy that well-deserved time off.
09:18And that's that all sorted.
09:19It was all just a big misunderstanding that won't lead to any more misunderstandings.
09:23Oh my god, Wade Barrett's been fired!
09:26Amidst the Nikki drama, Wade wasn't in his usual position alongside Joe
09:30Tessitore on Friday's episode of SmackDown.
09:32Michael Cole and Corey Graves were there instead, who announced they would be hosting
09:36the show for the next couple of months, replacing Wade and Joe.
09:41This is an annual occurrence for Tessitore, who will be busy hosting ESPN's college football
09:45coverage for the rest of the year.
09:47But PWInsider also reported that Barrett will be off the road going forward for a bit and
09:52won't be calling Raw, which Cole and Graves will continue to do.
09:56Replying to a since-deleted aggregation of that report, Wade cleared up things on Twitter
10:00where thankfully, he had some good news.
10:04I usually ignore BS reports like this, but it's causing needless hate to be spewed towards
10:09people I work with.
10:10WWE have kindly given me a couple of weeks off for personal time, booked nine months ago,
10:16and then I'm back to business as usual.
10:18A complete non-story.
10:20The end.
10:21But it seems Original Nexus members on commentary is a one-in-one-out kind of deal.
10:25As Tony Khan has announced, Brian Danielson will become a full-time AEW Dynamite announcer
10:32from this Wednesday's episode.
10:34Danielson has been one of the best guest commentators on AEW TV since his retirement,
10:39as he brings unique authenticity to his role.
10:42And hopefully, he can talk more bears.
10:44And AJ Lee, who was in that romance storyline with him way back when in WWE, has sent a
10:49heartwarming congratulations to him.
10:52Here's an exclusive clip.
10:53And to further tie it all together,
11:22click the video onscreen now to watch us count down the 10 worst wrestling championship
11:28belt designs of all time.
11:31Which includes AJ Lee's Hideous Divas title.
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