While speaking with Chris Van Vliet on a new episode of Insight, Kelly Kelly explained why she was not at WWE’s Evolution PLE this year.
Kelly Kelly was invited to appear in the crowd at the July event in Atlanta, but she turned down WWE’s offer, noting at the time that she was honored to receive the invitation but didn’t feel like it was the right way for her to come back.
That explanation made some fans believe that Kelly Kelly only wanted to return for a match. But she clarified the situation on Insight, saying the appearance just didn’t make sense for her logistically. WWE’s invitation came at the last minute, and it would have been difficult for her to fly across the country on short notice given her husband’s job and their two young kids.
“It was in Atlanta, obviously. It was one of the weekends, the only weekend I had off. And my kids, I think they had something going on. And I feel like when I come back, I want it to be — I want my kids to see me there and they wouldn’t have been able to make it,” Kelly Kelly said. “I don’t know, there was just like a lot of different things that were kind of keeping me from going.
“Of course you read the dirtsheets and… Somebody on the dirtsheet was like, ‘Oh, somebody in the higher-ups said that she only wants to come back if she has a match,’ which could not have been farther from the truth.
“Like, I didn’t need a match to come back. If it was in LA, I would have been there — no questions asked. I would have been there. But to fly across the country, to do that — like I said in the beginning, with my kids, I’m very picky about what I say yes and no to right now. Maybe when they’re six or seven, you know, they’re grown or bigger and stuff like that, then I probably would have done it. But it’s just, like I said, that was the one weekend I had off. I didn’t want to get them on a plane and do this. You know what I mean? There was just like a bunch of different things.”
If Evolution took place closer to where she lives or if WWE’s offer came sooner, Kelly Kelly would have been able to coordinate her plans better. She said everyone in WWE was understanding of why she declined the appearance.
“And that’s the thing, like it had nothing to do with wanting a singles match,” she said. “WWE knows exactly why I said no. And they were totally, they were like, ‘When we’re in LA, you’ll be there.’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, I will be there.’ So that was never a conversation. Like, ‘Kelly has to come back, she has to be in a match.’ Never, never.”
Kelly Kelly retired from the ring in 2012, but she remains under a Legends contract with WWE and has popped up a few times over the years at events like Royal Rumbles. The former Divas Champion was part of the first WWE Evolution card in 2018 as a battle royal entrant.
Competing in the ring at least one more time remains a goal for the 38-year-old Kelly Kelly. She and her husband welcomed twins into the world in 2023, and she would like for them to watch her have a match.
“That’s always my dream,” she said about her kids seeing her wrestle. “One day for them to be old enough to understand what mommy does and sit there in the front row and just cheer me on. And I just think that’s the coolest thing.
“But also if I’m sitting in the crowd, I would love for them to be like, ‘Wow, mommy, all these people are cheering for you. Like, what is going on?'”
