WWE Legend Lita Confirms AEW Interest? "There Were Opportunities Floating Around"
WWE Hall of Famer alludes to AEW interest ahead of Royal Rumble 2022.
While Lita didn't explicitly confirm AEW's reported interest in working with her during a recent appearance on Throwing Down with Miesha Tate and Renee Paquette, the WWE Hall of Famer certainly alluded to it.
Speaking on her impending appearance in this year's women's Royal Rumble (and how it came about), Lita said that she came to the realization that she wanted to have one last wrestling run after falling into bad habits early in the pandemic (h/t Figure Four Online/The Wrestling Observer):-
"Yeah, so definitely, like you said, so pandemic life kind of simplified everyone’s priorities because it’s just like only what’s in front of your plate but then – so I feel like I spent the first half of the pandemic just being like – just eating too much junk and processed food and doing absolutely nothing. I’m going, ‘Okay, so like even if the pandemic ends, you can’t just slowly kill yourself just laying around and eating junk food.’ So I had already just started to like lifestyle train which is very different from like G.I. Jane training, but I was like, I’m already starting to kind of remember what it felt like to, ‘Oh, it feels good when you move your body. It feels good when you push yourself.’"
The WWE boundary-breaker continued, outlining how this snowballed into her eventual WWE return, confirming she had "potential opportunities floating around" elsewhere:-
"And I think those kind of was – it was a very baby step that culminated with – you know, and there were like potential opportunities floating around that I was like, ‘Well, maybe, maybe, maybe’ and then this thing was just like, ‘Yes or no, do you want to do this Rumble on this day? Like yes or no? Are you in?’ And I was just like – put my feet to the fire. I was like, ‘Yes, I’m in’ and then it was like, okay, so now that I’m in, it’s time to make the most of it.”
Fightful Select reported on 15 January that AEW had contacted Lita over a potential appearance last year, though the two parties couldn't come to an agreement. A program involving reigning AEW Women's World Champion Britt Baker had been pitched, potentially culminating at All Out 2021, but while this didn't end up happening, talks ended on good terms and AEW working with Lita in the future remains a possibility.
Nonetheless, Lita will be in this weekend's women's Royal Rumble - her first since 2018. This follows her hitting Charlotte Flair with a Twist of Fate during her SmackDown return on 14 January.