WWE superstar AJ Lee is hours away from her first singles match in 11 years, and she’s been working hard for the milestone moment.
The 38-year-old star made her in-ring comeback at WrestlePalooza last September before being part of WarGames in November, but her Elimination Chamber clash with Becky Lynch will mark her first one-on-one bout since losing to Nikki Bella on the March 16, 2015 episode of Monday Night Raw.
Speaking at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, for WWE 2K26 Creatorfest last week, Bayley exclusively told Metro how she has helping prepare her for the milestone match, and what it means having AJ and her husband CM Punk in the locker room.
‘They’re the biggest superstars of all time. But just to have them in the back, like having AJ in our locker room, is just wild to see her interacting with like Nikki Bella and Nattie and all of us,’ she said.
‘Lyra [Valkyria] and I trained with her the other day, and it just made me just think about how far I’ve come in my career, but how far WWE has come.
‘The fact that the women’s division is so strong that somebody like AJ Lee wants to come back and be a part of it says that we’ve done a damn good job since she’s been gone.’
Bayley has become genuine friends with WWE 2K26 cover star CM Punk over the years, and ‘his beautiful wife’ AJ, who is also included on the roster for the new game.
So, how is the former Divas Champion looking heading into her Intercontinental Championship match with Becky?
‘Oh, beautiful. She’s incredible. I’m like, “How do you still, after 10 years -” I was like, “Did you get in the ring every week, or what?”,’ she raved.
‘She’s incredible. The thing that I love the most was hearing how her mind works and how she’s thinking of things and questioning things, and what she wants out of her work in the ring.
‘It was very refreshing to hear. And it’s those things that make her great and makes her who she is.’
For Punk, he just loves getting to have his wife back on the road and sharing the journey with her.
‘Occasionally we just look at each other. We’re just like, “Man, can you believe it?” Traveling with her, switching seats with strangers on an airplane because, “Hey, can I sit next to my wife?” … Sharing hotel rooms with her again,’ he beamed.
‘We didn’t get to do a whole lot of traveling together, and now we do. Every minute I see her backstage, or on the road, whatever, I don’t worry about anything else really.
‘Everything I need in the world is right there.’
When we pointed out his eyes lit up when he talked about her, Punk chucked: ‘I try to play it cool. But I know I’m a goof. It’s okay.’
Bayley admitted she has loved ‘being part of’ AJ’s comeback, helping her get ready for such a significant part of her comeback.
‘That day to me made me be like, “Man, this is so much more than wanting to be on Wrestlemania, or wanting to carry a championship, or wanting to be the best in the world,”‘ she added. ‘For someone to want your help, it means a lot.’
Everything has also come full circle, with Bayley passing lessons she learned from AJ onto her tag team partner Lyra, and the talented independent wrestlers she hosted on her Lodestone camp, where she flew the women out for a weekend-long seminar with the likes of John Cena, Bianca Belair, Cora Jade and Rhea Ripley appearing as guest coaches.
‘The one thing I learned from AJ when I first got signed was to be myself,’ she explained. ‘You got to meet it halfway. If we’re not ourselves, you can’t genuinely get that connection with people.’
She added: ‘Lyra the person is so much more than Lyra the wrestler, and I mean that in the best way possible.’
Reflecting on the camp as a whole, Bayley is determined to help secure the future of wrestling.
‘The one main thing I wanted to do was bridge the gap between independent wrestlers and people that are signed,’ she said. ‘We need them to help our business, and to help us when they get signed.’
Bayley is also excited to be part of WWE 2K26, having grown up idolising the likes of Trish Stratus and Lita, who are included in the Attitude Era edition.
‘It just gets better and better,’ she said of the game. ‘All I wanted to do is be a wrestler and be like Lita and Trish, but there’s so much more to this that makes it even better.’
WrestleMania is approaching, and Bayley is trying to focus on the positives despite being dropped from last year’s card at the last second, with Becky Lynch replacing her as Lyra’s tag partner.
‘it’s difficult. And but I feel like it’s, it’s okay to feel that. You need to feel those things. There needs to be a healthy balance,’ she shrugged.
‘Things are going your way, or you get knocked down – you’re gonna be like John Cena and never give up, or you’re just gonna walk off. I choose to keep going, and prove everybody wrong.’
WWE 2K26 drops on March 13 with CM Punk on the cover. The Attitude Era, Monday Night War and King of Kings editions all release a week early on March 6.
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