A massive WWE return went down Friday on SmackDown, with one of the great Superstars of the 2010s returning to the company after a decade away.
Spoilers ahead of WWE SmackDown’s Friday episode.
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CM Punk’s feud with WWE’s top villain couple, real-life spouses Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch, just escalated. His own wife, three-time WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee, has come out of retirement to join him in WWE.
The segment went down on Friday at Allstate Arena, in Chicago, the city that Punk and Lee call home. Lynch went toe-to-toe with Punk, who refused to physically attack the WWE Intercontinental Champion. Instead, Lee, who retired in 2015 due to neck/spine injury, came out and took down Lynch, to an ecstatic response from the WWE crowd.
After the show, WWE shared footage of Lee (real name April Mendez) signing a new WWE contract, cementing that this wasn’t a one-off appearance. Lee is back in action alongside Punk, with the power couple likely headed for a tag team match against The Vision (Rollins and Lynch).

The extent of Lee’s future in-ring appearances is unclear. She has also not commented on the status of her neck; though she is obviously cleared for physical contact, based on her actions in Friday’s segment.
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NEW YORK CITY – DECEMBER 19: "Toil and Trouble" – Elsbeth is thrown into the world of television after the showrunner of a long-running police procedural is brutally murdered in his office, and although it appears to be the act of a disgruntled fan, she begins to suspect the show's longtime star Regina Coburn (Laurie Metcalf) who yearns for artistic fulfillment. Meanwhile, Judge Crawford (Michael Emerson) continues to be a thorn in Elsbeth's side, on the CBS original series ELSBETH, Thursday, Dec. 19 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs). Pictured (L-R): Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Carra Patterson as Kaya Blanke. (Photo by Michael Parmelee/CBS via Getty Images)







