WWE Wrestlepalooza 2025: 8 Nightmares That Could Come True
5. AJ Lee’s First Match In 10 Years Flops
This isn't exclusive to AJ Lee. It'd be a worry for anybody wrestling their first major match in 10 years.
WWE made a clever call by ensuring this was a mixed tag. Not only does it fit the story already being told with CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, but it also protects AJ. This is her first WWE match in a decade, so there will be plenty of ring rust. Training is different from being out there in front of a fired up live crowd, so this is a pressure spot for Lee. Make no mistake about it.
It’d blow if she crapped the bed on the night, or if fans were quiet for her work with Becky. Both she and the writing team need Indianapolis to come alive and bite when AJ hits a cracking Lou Thesz Press on 'The Man' and starts raining some punches down on her. If the place offers a meagre pop then quietens down completely, then it won't exactly bode well for Lee challenging Becks for the Women's Intercontinental Title.
Overall, any work between Punk and Rollins will make sure the quality needle starts dashing towards green, but it's really AJ's first forays into a WWE ring since 2015 that people are coming to see. It's vitally important that those moments land, and that Lee's star power pop entrance excitement sustains through the actual match itself.
Nobody wants this to be a miserable failure, but it's always a niggling worry at the back of one's mind. Not everyone can be Ronda Rousey back at WrestleMania 34, y'know. Jokes (but that was a really fabulous performance)!