AJ Lee made her long-awaited return to the WWE on Friday night.

Lee appeared on “Friday Night SmackDown” to provide some backup for her real-life husband, CM Punk, as his feud with Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch exploded over the last week. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Lynch cost Punk the World Heavyweight Championship at Clash in Paris last weekend and then berated him during a segment on “Monday Night Raw” earlier this week. Punk teased that he had something up his sleeve going into Friday’s show.

Punk and Lynch addressed each other in the ring.

“Becky, this is exactly the situation I wanted to avoid,” he said, “because you know and I know and everyone knows, I would never put my hands on a lady. Thankfully, I got somebody who will.”

Punk turned around and Lee’s entrance music hit. The fans in Chicago were thrown into a frenzy. Lynch was stunned as Lee made her way down to the ring.

WWE STAR OBA FEMI THROWS OPPONENT THROUGH TABLE FROM RING DURING HEATWAVE MATCH, RETAINS TITLE

AJ Lee in action against Becky Lynch during SmackDown at Allstate Arena on Sept. 5, 2025 in Rosemont, Illinois. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)

Lee didn’t have much to say. She let her hands do most of the talking. She and Lynch scrapped in the ring before the women’s intercontinental champion scurried a way with help from her real-life husband, Seth Rollins.

Lee has not been seen in the WWE since she retired in April 2015. It was more than a year after Punk controversially left the company. Lee was involved in Women of Wrestling, a Jeanie Buss-backed promotion, but didn’t return to in-ring action.

AJ Lee returns to SmackDown at Allstate Arena on September 5, 2025 in Rosemont, Illinois. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

So, more than 10 years later, she’s back and a part of one of the biggest feuds ongoing in WWE.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

SHARJAH: Mike Hesson, white-ball head coach of Pakistan men’s cricket team, on Saturday expressed satisfaction with the Green Shirts’ performance since he assumed the role.

Hesson, who served as New Zealand’s head coach from 2012 to 2018, was appointed Pakistan head coach in May this year after his stints with the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Islamabad United.

His first assignment as Pakistan head coach was a three-match home T20I series against Bangladesh, which the Green Shirts clean swept 3-0.

The team then toured Bangladesh for as many T20Is, where they suffered a 2-1 defeat, before securing an away series triumph over West Indies last month.

The Green Shirts are currently participating in the T20I tri-series against Afghanistan and hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE) and have qualified for the final after finishing at the top of the standings with six points in four matches, losing only one game against Afghanistan, whom they will face in the final on Sunday.

With the two teams tied with one victory each, Hesson expressed his hope for an entertaining match, also claiming that the Pakistan team had made a ‘big improvement’ during his reign, winning nine out of 13 T20Is since he took over.

“Pakistan are growing nicely as a team certainly not perfect yet but having won 9 of our 13 T20I’s since I’ve come onboard, it’s certainly a big improvement from where we were,” Hesson wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Should be a cracking game between two rival nations,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention that the ongoing tri-series serves as the dress rehearsal for the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2025, scheduled to get underway on September 9 with the curtain raiser between Afghanistan and Hong Kong at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The Green Shirts, however, will start their campaign against Oman on September 12 before taking on arch-rivals India on September 14.