Backstage reaction to AJ Lee's collaboration with Stephanie McMahon after 10-year-old controversy - Reports

AJ Lee recently appeared on Stephanie McMahon's podcast. New details have come to light regarding the backstage reaction to this collaboration.

AJ Lee's first run in the WWE lasted from 2009 to 2015. During this time, she became embroiled in a controversy when she called out Stephanie McMahon and WWE for the women receiving a fraction of the screen time and wages as their male counterparts, despite record merchandise sales. Although it's been ten years since this incident, AJ appeared on Stephanie's podcast recently, which came as a surprise to many.

According to reports from Fightful Select, several WWE talent were reportedly surprised that AJ appeared on Stephanie McMahon's podcast since they expected the topic to be buried in the past.

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AJ Lee revealed why she wanted to be part of the WarGames match

AJ Lee made her WWE return a few weeks ago to help her husband, CM Punk, in his feud against Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins. She also played a role in Becky losing the Women's Intercontinental Championship to Maxxine Dupri. Following this, she agreed to join Rhea Ripley's team for the women's WarGames match at Survivor Series 2025. This will be the first time AJ steps inside the steel structure.

During a recent appearance on What's Your Story? with Stephanie McMahon, AJ revealed that she is part of an era where women competed in short matches. Therefore, she wants to throw herself into the deep end and compete in longer bouts.

"Yes, so I figured because I was in a generation where we got like seven minutes max I thought I would just jump into the deep end and do 30-minute matches and f***ing WarGames cage matches. Gonna ease back into things," she said.

It will be interesting to see how well AJ performs inside WarGames.