Zayda Steel Credits AJ Lee For Inspiring Her To Want To Wrestle

Zayda Steel says that AJ Lee was a big inspiration for her to want to get into wrestling growing up. The WWE EVOLVE star spoke with DS of Ring the Bell and credited Lee with making her believe it was possible she could make it in the business.

“Without AJ Lee, I would probably not think it was possible to be a wrestler,” Steel said (per Fightful). “Because, you know, like a lot of people, like Lita, because they saw themselves in her. She didn’t look like everyone else. AJ Lee was my Lita. “She didn’t look like everyone else, from even NXT when she was on the game show. You could tell that she kept true to herself always. She didn’t try to be like other girls. She didn’t look like them, obviously. Something in 10-year-old me resonated with her.”

Steel continued, “Her match with Kaitlyn, Payback, she won that title. Oh, that was the only time I begged my mom to let me buy a WWE pay-per-view. That was the first WWE pay-per-view I ever bought, with my mom’s money, because I had to see AJ, and obviously she won, and 10-year-old me was like, I need that Divas Title. I bought, like, the cheap replica one, like the plastic, because we were broke. AJ, Lee, please come back. That’s all I want to say, please… Honestly, if I can’t get that match, give it to Roxanne or Cora or anyone else that grew up loving her as kids.”

Lee has been retired since her neck injury in 2015. She recently noted that she does miss the weekly connection with wrestling fans.