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When AJ Lee made her debut on WWE's main roster in 2011, the world of pro wrestling was very different for women. When she made her return to WWE in 2025, she finally got something she had long been looking for.
Lee began her career and wrestled during the Divas Era. As she put it, it was an era of bikini battle royals with perfect 10 models as the top women's talent in the company. She was a Divas Champion and connected with the audience because she had a different look than the other key women she was in the ring with.
Lee certainly didn't get paid the same amount as the men did when she first started, but that changed when she returned to WWE.
During an interview for season three of the WWE Unreal series on Netflix, Lee spoke about a key detail regarding her contract for a return to the ring after over ten years away. That detail? Equal pay as the men.
AJ Lee was compensated the same as CM Punk during recent WWE run
In the interview, Lee revealed that she was paid the same amount as CM Punk was. Lee called it a "boss-ass moment."
“One of the things I fought for back in the day wasn’t just for equal footing,” Lee said. “It was, ‘Let’s get paid the way the men get paid.’ To know I’m signing this contract where I'm getting paid the way my husband (Punk) is getting paid, where I’m being treated like an equal? It was a boss-ass moment, I’m not going to lie.”
Lee returned to WWE in the summer of 2025 and teamed with her husband to take on the team of Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins at the first-ever WWE Wrestlepalooza event on ESPN Unlimited. Punk and Lee won the match.
From that moment on, Lee would continue to feud with Lynch. That feud saw Lee participate in the 2025 War Games match at Survivor Series. She then had the first of two giant singles matches against Lynch at Elimination Chamber in Chicago. That show was inside the United Center and Lee defeated Lynch to win the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship.
Lynch got revenge at WrestleMania 42. The two women had a rematch for that same championship, but Lynch defeated Lee to win the title back. Lee hasn't been on WWE television since losing her championship, but is still a contracted WWE talent.
Lee's husband, CM Punk, is very much in the bright lights of WWE. Punk is the current Undisputed WWE Champion and will defend that championship at SummerSlam in less than two weeks.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/fannation/wrestling as AJ Lee Reveals What Made Her WWE Return Contract So Special.
