Lita On Why She Chose To Return To WWE Over Signing With AEW

During a recent conversation with Chris Van Vliet, WWE Hall of Famer Lita gave further insight on just how close she was to signing with All Elite Wrestling.

The former "Team Xtreme" member was most attracted to the idea of working with Britt Baker in some fashion. Lita hoped that, ultimately, she could serve Britt or someone similar by being what Sting is to Darby Allin.

"I was thinking about it. I was watching all the time and I was watching Britt Baker ascend," Lita notes. "And I was watching the crowd really attach to her and they lobbed it up to work with her. As I was seeing AEW in general grow, I was like, Britt was at a point where I was like, 'she needs to have a big moment with somebody bigger than her,' and they have her, and Thunder Rosa, and Nyla Rose, and, you know, Ruby Soho later. But like, you can have those matches and elevate each other slowly but if there is somebody big that can come in like Sting did with Darby Allin, that's where you can catapult somebody. So it did seem exciting."

Nevertheless, it felt like a better fit for Lita to return to WWE and have an opportunity to work with one of her close, real-life friends, Becky Lynch.

"But at the same time, it's like, their roster had a long way to grow and they're still kind of getting their feet under them about how they want to present as a company, and then around that same time, WWE is talking to them. And just knowing how deep their roster already is, it just seemed like more possibilities and a better fit. Not to mention, like, it is home for me, right? I've been there since I was a kid. So, it was like, I wasn't thinking about either company when I was, you know, when I was first approached and then Cody had reached out and I was like, 'oh well, let me watch the program more from an aspect of maybe being there and seeing how I could fit in besides like catching it when I catch it'.

"And yeah, of course, I started brainstorming and thinking about the possibilities, but then on the flip side, when I'm talking about WWE, I was like, 'it's just right there for the taking,' and just seemed to be the better fit. Plus, I had never met Britt. Becky is like a close friend of mine, and so to be able to have that and the possibility of that match, we just wanted to. I didn't think that would ever happen, and to be able to have that was really special."

Lita took some time to look back at her first exit from WWE, where she lost the Women's Title to Mickie James and was then humiliated by Cryme Tyme, JTG, and the late Shad Gaspard. The duo ended the post-match segment from Survivor Series 2006 by auctioning off embarrassing items like Lita's underwear and her sex toy.

She admits this was something that upset her, and she spent the entire day before the pay-per-view attempting to get the plan changed.

"I was happy to work Mickie James, but in my mind, it was a good, long match and we hug at the end of it. I, you know, like, 'here's the title, I see that it's in good hands and I'm out of here'. And it was just like, hurt my feelings, you know? And I was very vocal about it. I went to my producer that day, I went to the head writer, I went to Vince, I went back to my producer, back to the writer, back to Vince being like, 'is there any way we can not do this? Can we just do this in a pre-tape later? Like, can I just have this match?' And the answer was just, 'you're a heel. This is what we're doing. You're giving in to somebody, you know, somebody that we want to boost up and that's what you do when you leave'. And I was like, 'what did I do? what did I do, like, to have this ending?'

"And they're like, ' you're looking at it wrong. This is business, you're a heel, that's what needs to happen'. And I remember saying, 'alright, well, this is the last time you'll get to pull my strings so I guess you're pulling them hard. You know, I'll go out there and do business because I'm a professional. I want you to know this hurts my feelings and I know this is business, you're telling me, which doesn't bull feelings. But, I want you to know, as somebody who broke my neck for the business and for who was given everything, this hurts my feelings.'"

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Chris Van Vliet with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.