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AJ Lee Retires from "in-ring WWE competition"


efrim

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I wanted to like AJ because she seemed to have an interesting character at times. But she was never great in-ring and the character changed too often it seemed like. She did end up saying one of the more confusing and infuriating lines I have heard so far though.

 

On a random Raw or SD she was at the announce table and talked about how the Divas division was a joke and nobody knew how to wrestle. This blew me away for a few reasons.

 

1. Everybody knows this, the fans, the WWE, everybody. Why did it need to be said? Was some writer a little bit bitter about the fact that they had a few women who could wrestle and didn't care? Is the WWE trying to bury the divas even further? Or do they see it as some kind of heel thing when somebody "breaks kayfabe" to insult other wrestlers?

 

2. It's AJ. She's at best okay in-ring. If you give this to somebody a bit more legit then maybe it works better.

 

And AJ gets all kinds of heel heat for it, which seemed to be the intention. Because it's really evil to suggest that the truth is...well, the truth. All around dumbshit stuff there. And of course we use that to launch into the Total Divas vs. other Divas feud that is only there to promote Total Divas. Which is the show made so they can keep the women who can't wrestle around. I'm pretty sure somebody's head exploded when they thought up that gem of an idea. I'm sure a lot of the women who gave a shit were thrilled about that one, AJ included.

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This is a girl who's dream was to be a WWE Women's Champion and when she whens the title at the height of her popularity, she is ridiculed for caring too much by the company. They treat her husband like she and he quits, even though he LOVED wrestling too. I'm sure AJ did not have the best working environment after Punk left either.

 

This situation just shows how shitty the WWE really is, sometimes.

 

Yeah, this is my main takeaway from it. I have no feelings about her one way or another but her story really is a shame. WWE really is a fucked up company.

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In the last few years, how many women have quit after having a notable run on TV? AJ is not the first, probably won't be the last.

 

That being said I actually liked AJ. Her PPV match with Kaitlyn from was good, and she showed some potential there. Unfortunately, being a woman on the WWE main roster is probably the worst place to try to develop as a worker in all of wrestling.

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Well this explains some stuff

 

https://instagram.com/p/0zMkBQB1ro/?taken-by=itsmebayley

 

I feel like this is them trolling people. It's so deliberate, and I also can't see a scenario where they'd let her in the ring if that were the case.

For sure, but AJ and Bayley having a baby would be so adorbs.
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In the last few years, how many women have quit after having a notable run on TV? AJ is not the first, probably won't be the last.

 

 

Great point. I was talking to a friend about this very topic. There have been some good characters in the division over the years, but since the departures of Trish and Lita, it has been more common for these "main event divas" to only get 12-18 months on top and then taken off TV/retired/etc..

 

Off the top of my head, Michelle McCool, Mickie James, and Beth Pheonix spring to mind, as well as Melina somewhat (though, she never really got to the top of the division or was as over as the previous three mentioned). I think Kharma, if she had had an actual run with the WWE, would've had the same 12 months, then would've been beat and that would've been it for her.

 

I don't even view this as a bad thing. As much as Nikki Bella has improved, I'm willing to wager the Bellas are coming to the end of their run as the focal point of the divas division. They've feuded with everyone, including each other, and the next batch of talent (Sasha and Charlotte) are ready for their run. Just like Layla has been transitioned into an ambassador/spokesperson role, the Bellas will be in that spot (though with more of a TV presence due to their roles on Total Divas) sooner than later. As one-dimensional as she is (someone else said it, but honestly, every move she does has to do with her butt), I do like Naomi's energy and eagerness and wouldn't mind her and Paige being used as transitional opponents to take us from the Bellas Era (2013-15) to the Charlotte/Banks Era (2016-2018).

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I don't know how pre-meditated it was, but the timing of it almost makes it look like AJ got one over on the WWE like her hubby.

 

She gets huge heat with Stephanie for making her look bad on twitter, and never really got any punishment for it. While WWE probably can't outright punish her for a tweet. They could certainly have run an angle or put a match together designed to wholly make her look bad, to serve as unwritten/unspoken punishment. Before finishing up, she worked WrestleMania and will get a nice payday (probably one of the lower ones overall, but still a nice payday for her).

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I don't know how pre-meditated it was, but the timing of it almost makes it look like AJ got one over on the WWE like her hubby.

 

She gets huge heat with Stephanie for making her look bad on twitter, and never really got any punishment for it. While WWE probably can't outright punish her for a tweet. They could certainly have run an angle or put a match together designed to wholly make her look bad, to serve as unwritten/unspoken punishment. Before finishing up, she worked WrestleMania and will get a nice payday (probably one of the lower ones overall, but still a nice payday for her).

 

If I had to guess, though, they must have been waffling on her return before it was finalized, since she's been completely edited out of Daniel Bryan's book, even the spots where she has to be talked about (18 seconds angle, 3-way feud w/ Kane & Punk). Maybe that changes in the final version that hits stores in July now that they've ended things on publicly good terms, though. They clearly didn't book her as someone who was leaving, so there seems to be more to the story of her brief comeback than we know.

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