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AJ Retires


Dolfan in NYC

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AJ was awesome. I think she was the best Diva since Trish and Lita and that era. She wasn't as good as they were in the ring -- her size really limited what she can do and she wasn't some athletic freak who could fly -- but she made the most out of absolutely every second of screen time she ever had. She might have been the best actor/actress in the entire company. Who knows how carny it all is but she came off like she really wanted to be in the WWE and made the most out of her opportunity.

There was a LONG stretch when she was the only female personality in the WWE who cared. No one else took what they did seriously. The Bellas had that whole deal where they were trying to take Daniel Bryan's virginity or whatever. It was unwatchable garbage. AJ had the "nerds in love" thing with Daniel Bryan and it was awesome. He really started to get over because of how he treated her. And she was the best performer on the show for that whole Bryan/Punk/Kane quarrel she was in.

I also loved her pairing with Dolph. Dolph and ADR had that classic double turn match. That worked as well as it did because of what an amazing second/girlfriend AJ played. She really sold the direness of Dolph's condition and showed concern and worry.

The only time period where she didn't really click was as the Raw GM. She was still decent in the role but it was just a neutered disorganized mess of an angle.

Her crowning moment is The Pipe Bombshell. Say what you want about shoot stuff and the like, but AJ delivered an all-time great promo and it resonated well because she was saying what a lot of people were thinking. We had to friggin' endure garbage like Eva Marie and Cameron and JoJo and Nattie and The Bellas were mailing stuff in. Who knows what the real thing was, but AJ flat out chumping those girls was awesome.

Just the total reactions to it told all you needed to know. AJ delivers this promo filled with emotion, vocal changes, sarcasm and perfect timing. She threw FIRE. The Bellas just scream over it ("Say it to ouuurrr faaaaaaccee") and almost ruin it from a TV production standpoint. Eva Marie just apes what they do because why not and she's a total moron. Cameron and Naomi make yawn gestures -- great way to put that over, ladies. And Nattie tries to do the whole "Oh yeah? Let's fight" face but instead looks like she's dealing with the runs.

It was just night-and-day of professionalism.

 

Then she totally gasfaced the announcers the week after that. Who knows what was planned, but she said what we were thinking: Talk about the product, morons.

I loved AJ's run as the arrogant, skipping little snot heel champ. The angle with Paige was a lot of fun and had some good matches and angles. I loved when Paige tossed AJ off the ring apron. "BE CAREFUL WITH MY FRIEND!"

The women's division has gotten much better lately. Paige knows what she's doing and is blossoming. The Bellas are now actively good in the ring. Nattie's found a good spot. Naomi's athleticism is starting to click. And we know what NXT has in store for us.

But the women's division, for years, felt like I was watching humans degrade themselves for money and attention. AJ was the only one I actively liked and was invested in. Thank you for the career.

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I find the wording on wwe.com interesting... "has decided to retire from in-ring competition".

 

 

So, AJ Lee: smarmy, sarcastic Renee Young surrogate coming soon?

 

AJ Lee: smarmy, sarcastic Diva Search host coming soon?

 

AJ Lee: contractually obligated manager of the Ascention, coming soon?

 

 

She was awesome with Ziggler and Big E. That group was great. Otherwise, I care precisely as much about her work as the WWE cares about Diva's matches. And her clear disdain for being there of late is not helpful to anyone or anything. So, yeah. 

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This is great news... Not because I hate AJ, but because I'm genuinely happy for her. She had a great career and gets to retire in good health on her own terms. Not too many wrestlers get to do that, unfortunately.

 

She's the longest reigning Divas champ ever and undefeated at Mania. Definite HOF'er if the drama between Punk and WWE doesn't spiral out of control.

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While I've always liked AJ (decent wrestler, fun on commentary, really cute in a Lacey Chabert kinda way), I'm pleased she's leaving for two reasons. Firstly, as others have said, it's always good when wrestlers retire with a relatively clean bill of health. Secondly, so I won't have to hear her wretched ring music again

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Glad to see her get out of wrestling (even if it's just until this Punk stuff blows over) with her health intact and her life in check. When you consider just how many people are far worse off after wrestling than before it, she's a really inspirational story. Started from essentially nothing, homeless, got trained, and got just the right breaks. She went from just being in the crowd for Lethal's matches to being a top WWE character just four years later. Now, her star has definitely faded in terms of TV time over the years, but she still had "it" and can just do whatever she wants now. Once she made that 'AJ-Brooks" site and got that name out there, it was pretty clear that she had some post-wrestling plans and it's really surprising that she came back at all with the Punk suit. I guess that's something we're not going to know about for a while - was it just done to prevent things from being worse for Punk? It couldn't have been all that fun for her with all that going on, and maybe it's just all that stuff that got her to leave. Either way, she had an excellent WWE run and can make some good money on the autograph scene - and I can see her doing really nice on PWTees too.

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I'm really saddened yet happy at the same time by this news.  Was always a fan and the least year or so my wife absolutely adored her, always one of the segments she would go out of her way to watch.  The wrestling to me was secondary, it was more the attitude she brought and the impact she had that mattered.  Don't care to speculate, but it's good she's leaving to live her life.  Plus, the pairing with Paige for me seemed like a passing of the torch.  Paige is a different shade of nerdy, but has all the qualities to make an impact.  That, and she is better in the ring than AJ was for some time.  Plus, this opens up the doors for Bayley who would be insanely popular.  She's not leaving a shit division anymore, hopefully she's happy knowing it matters now.  And she had a lot to do with getting that to matter.  Really going to miss her though.

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I really dont believe that She was bothered by the Punk chants. She was pretty much put over for most of her run as one of the best Divas in-ring by the WWE and the fans way before the Punk situation. I never looked at chanting her husband as a negetive reaction agains her, to me I looked at it the same way as the crowd chanting yes during Daniel Bryan Matches.

Chanting CM Punk during other people segments is one thing but chanting CM Punk at his Wife is another, so I dont see that bothering her.

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There is scuttle (especially with folks reading into comments Bayley made) that AJ is pregnant

Obviously, if true, would explain things and the timing

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Unless I'm forgetting something, she won the clusterfuck last year and the tag this year which were her only two matches, right? Her less-than-stellar managerial outings don't count.

You're correct, I'm saying counting 2-0 as "undefeated at Wrestlemania" in apparent seriousness is honk-a-meter level goofy.

In any event, what I think was AJ's biggest impact, and what I hope will be her most lasting, is the return of wrestling to the forefront of the women's division. After two decades of the WWF/E women being eye candy first, plot devices and/or comedy fodder second, and wrestlers a distant third, (if at all,) AJ got over with the fans by caring more about her matches than about her photo shoots.

Not saying she's the only one, but she was the one who found success with it, possibly because she was able to pair it with promo skills and character work, and it's because of her that none of the women today are getting prominent roles on WWE TV (I'm excluding Total Divas) without being able to competently work a match.

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I can't hate on her for getting out of the ring before she had arthritic shoulders or had nine pounds of scar tissue behind her knee caps.

Nine pounds of scar tissue would maybe get her to 100 pounds. :)

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#givedivaschance MEANS NOTHING. They're giving time to the wrong people and the divas are still treated like eye candy. It's not like WWE went from models wrestling to AJW all of a sudden. Instead of getting two minutes in a pissbreak match, they get 5 or more. It's nothing compared to the average NXT show's use of women as prominent and important characters on the show.

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#givedivaschance MEANS NOTHING. They're giving time to the wrong people and the divas are still treated like eye candy. It's not like WWE went from models wrestling to AJW all of a sudden. Instead of getting two minutes in a pissbreak match, they get 5 or more. It's nothing compared to the average NXT show's use of women as prominent and important characters on the show.

And if they keep doing that 5 or more minute matches + then NXT call ups that are ready we could see it improving drastically. I don't get the people who expect #givedivaschance to have been a snap of the fingers deal.

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It's such a weird spot. Total Divas is such a hit. You can't blame them for wanting a reality TV show at all -- it's exposure to a new audience, making new stars in that realm, etc. I have no idea who is on that show right now but the ladies on the first cast were all awful performers. The best in-ring was probably Nattie and she was somewhere between "completely worthless" and "merely bad." I also get why they had JoJo and Eva Marie as the "new girl" plot devices. But they both have no idea what is going on in terms of wrestling.

Their best hope is to combine both worlds. They need to get reality TV personalities who are also talented at the actual wrestling (and not just in-ring) part of it. They've made some strides in that department. Nattie's a lot better now. Nikki and Brie are both good in the ring (but still awful promos -- see the whole Brie vs. Steph feud). Is Naomi still on that show? She's very athletic and putting it together. I know Paige is going on and she's the best of that lot in all aspects of wrestling.

On the Brie vs. Steph feud: Imagine if AJ was in Brie's place? That feud would have been great since AJ can actually act. The Brie/Steph match was a lot of fun, but I think bullying, cheating Steph using her size advantage over underdog AJ would have been really friggin' good.

I just think AJ was one of the best all-around performers of the past few years. The only time the Divas (UGH) division feud repulsed me was when Trish and Lita and that era was solid, Lay Cool and AJ and her angles. She was the best part of a whole bunch of main event-type feuds.

I think she'd be a perfect host for some video game show or the like.

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The sad thing is even the models and ex-cheerleaders ect complain about not having more time. Taryn and Brooke are great examples of what Divas can do if given a chance.

Even on the first season of Total Divas they made a big deal about getting cut from Mania a few years ago and though that would result in the Divas division getting more serious especially when they had AJ cut the ant-diva promo later that year.

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#givedivaschance MEANS NOTHING. They're giving time to the wrong people and the divas are still treated like eye candy. It's not like WWE went from models wrestling to AJW all of a sudden. Instead of getting two minutes in a pissbreak match, they get 5 or more. It's nothing compared to the average NXT show's use of women as prominent and important characters on the show.

And if they keep doing that 5 or more minute matches + then NXT call ups that are ready we could see it improving drastically. I don't get the people who expect #givedivaschance to have been a snap of the fingers deal.

 

 

But that ties into the bigger issue for it, and the real point for why AJ was so important- people don't want to admit the real benefit that makes NXT's Divas' division work so much better than the WWE: All the NXT women have distinct, easy to define characters- and those characters, in turn, make the matches MEAN more in exchange.

 

Just "matches for matches' sake" doesn't make women's wrestling go from models to AJW- there were some 9-10 minute matches on WWE TV last year that meant nothing in the long run. Even "feuds" or "storylines" may not pull it off- last year, there was a point during 2014 that there were four distinct Divas' storylines going on (Bellas vs. Stephanie, AJ vs. Paige, Cameron vs. Naomi, and Layla vs. Summer Rae), and none of those storylines meant anything because, for the most part, they were just characterless performers trading wins and losses. 

 

AJ was so important for the Divas, in large part because she was the only person in the WWE women's division to not just have a character from day one (the geek girl), but then grow into it to make a whole new character besides "hot, nice girl" or "hot, mean girl"- and even if that character eventually added "hot, CRAAAAAAAAAAZY! girl" to WWE's default Diva gimmicks, it still doesn't change how different it made her during the time period and helped develop her as a genuine top star.

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