A Hole in the Heart – Goodbye AJ Lee

Oh AJ, I hardly knew ye. For years, I have lamented over the distance between you and me, hurting of the truth that every week you were in some other state. I waited for your return to California, but it was rare, and even then you were busy feeding your legions of fans the attention they deserved. I, but a keyboard warrior, acknowledged you daily, and appreciated you just as much. Tonight, we celebrate you.

By now, the news of AJ Lee’s retirement from active competition is knowledge even the most hermit of wrestling fans has acquired. It is this very news that has brought me back behind the keyboard for a one-off (maybe) column dedicated, of course, to AJ Lee. To put it simply, she took the tried and true method to the WWE as a female; attaching herself to talent, learning everything she could, and keeping her mouth shut when necessary. She signed with the WWE nearly six years ago after a successful showing at a tryout camp. The proclaimed Queen of FCW garnered fan favorite status, ironically enough, by turning heel shortly after her debut.

*Note, NOT AJ’s debut match*

AJ Lee’s rise to prominence was immediate all things considered, as she rose to the top through means not seen on WWE Television in quite some time. She became my object of adulation since FCW and evermore. Of course, I was not alone, but to say I took the obsession to new levels would be an understatement. For those that did not follow FCW, the most obvious place they would have seen AJ’s start would be the worst rendition of NXT known to man in Season 3. It was here where her bubbly personality and sparkplug – like demeanor would be shown to a much larger audience, turning her into one of the few unscathed personas from that era of NXT television. AJ’s early years, both in FCW and NXT gave only glimpses of what was to become of her, and it was in NXT where the bouncing of relationships actually started.

In her short time frame of being a Diva of the WWE, she “dated” Hornswoggle, nearly married Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan, courted CM Punk and Kane, and even kissed John Cena – all this without every really having the stigma of a [insert disparaging remark]. She was the General Manager of RAW at one point, and rose to a prominence that surpassed the Divas Title, and the Divas in general. She became a staple of the division, but even more than that, she became what fans wanted in their Divas, especially when juxtaposed with others, such as The Bella Twins.

Most recently, she came back after a neck injury and had her last big time bout with Paige at WrestleMania. As days pass, we will most likely hear of her returning solely for the Mania payout, and to maybe fulfill a few days within a contract. We’ll hear that she was just like her husband, a quitter, and that the WWE likely let her go without recourse to appease CM Punk. There will be rumors galore, but the truth of the matter is that we lost a good one, guys.

If you have read this far, I thank you, because as much as this is an ode to AJ Lee, there is something more pressing to be exposed that really is the meat of this column. I take you to the “pipe bomb” AJ Lee dropped, specifically where she called the cast of Total Divas:

A bunch of cheap, interchangeable, expendable, useless women. Women who have turned to reality television, because they just weren’t gifted enough to be actresses, and they just weren’t talented enough to be champion.

This spoken, all while Brie and Nikki shouted over the promo, yelling “say it to my face,” while AJ was doing just that. This, also, spoken while the talent of Natalya and the budding Naomi were in the ring, as well. This – where AJ Lee was the proposed face, and everyone else was just…there? Ah, there…there is the issue, the meat – if you will.

I named this column “Hole in the Heart” as a way to troll, yes, but there is a lot of truth that is said in jest. My question isn’t so much regarding the hole that AJ Lee has left, but more so is this a hole the WWE is willing to fill in?

AJ Lee’s rise to prominence came at the same time that the WWE was attempting to get a reality TV series starring their “Divas” off the ground. It was a shift in a division that, ultimately, had little direction. With the intertwining of the E Network, and the WWE, they had an opportunity to utilize the females on the roster in a way that they’ve always wanted to (read: Divas Search), yet never really had the gusto or gall to do it. Because of this – and due to the overall lack of direction – it opened the door for AJ Lee to standout. The “Anti-Diva” sentiment is something that would always be highlighted, simply see Lita for a prime example (also, one of AJ’s inspirations). With focus shifted to embodying the likes of Eva Marie and The Bellas, the Divas Division finally became the image that Vince McMahon wanted: hot chicks doing stupid shit.

Of course, Vince McMahon and Co are not stupid, just…out of touch a bit. They saw the clear popularity AJ Lee had, and considered it obvious in nature to allow her to be on the forefront of their flagship shows – whether it was a pawn in the main program of the show, or actually becoming the authority figure in a pants suit. In some ways, they had the best of both worlds with the “Divas” of the WWE doing their thing on the E Network, while AJ Lee carried the torch for a division that had little base to stand on. Or did she? Was she truly a woman who held a division on her back, or was she simply an appeasement for us fans who crave and crawl towards a Divas division with actual wrestling? Because – and this is coming for your resident AJ Lover – how much did she actually wrestle? There is no denying the talent of AJ Lee. She knows what she is doing, she is competent, she sells like no other and can create a story in a ring, culminating in a great finish. But how rare was it to see that spectacle? No, I stand firm behind AJ Lee not being an integral part of a division, but instead a placeholder for a company that simply didn’t need that place to be held. You see, the Divas Division hasn’t really been a division in some time, and for every Paige debut, there are two Bellas or Eva Maries who are much more marketable and worthy of the spotlight, according to the WWE, and it’s because of this that I deduce the place AJ Lee left will remain empty for some time.

I take you back to the promo AJ Lee cut. It was everything we have felt, everything we wanted to say about The Bellas, about Eva Marie, about Cameron – and yet, it felt so…mean. It was a heel promo, yet there we were, behind the crowd who was behind the lady behind the microphone. This is an issue, WWE. This promo should not have been cheered, because those in the ring were not heels (at least not all of them). It was WWE telling the WWE crowd that the six woman in or around the ring were not worthy of our praise – not Naomi, not Natalya, none of them. THEY put AJ Lee at the top, THEY created the divide. THEY put her on a pedestal that they have no intention of restocking, leaving her in an arena all on her own.

Of course, one could argue that we have a bolstering roster of talent over at NXT just waiting to meet the main roster and take that aforementioned pedestal, but how interested is the WWE in doing so really? Take Paige and Emma’s debuts as prime examples of how uninterested the WWE is in having these WRESTLERS rise to the top. No, Bayley, Emma, Charlotte, and Sasha, they don’t stand a chance. When I say that there is no other AJ Lee, it’s not because I’m so blind to see that she wasn’t so far above the rest she was untouchable. No, I say it because the WWE doesn’t WANT another AJ Lee. AJ Lee became an idea, a representation of a singular figure within the WWE. Not one that would be their direction moving forward, but one that would create an underlying current of talent and entertainment not like what the higher-ups would want. In some ways, she was their necessary evil and our necessary appeasement.

AJ Lee has been a bit of a gimmick for mere here at 411. Every RAW Report, there is someone calling me perverted due to the adulation that I overly expose within the confines of my three hour recap. There are those – much more, to be honest – who support my addiction and send gifs via e mail. There are those that partake in said adulation. There are those that lambast the site as a whole due to allowing me to recap with such rose-tinted glasses. I rarely speak on the “gimmick” as it removes the sheen of awesomeness that it carries. But in the interest of transparency, AJ Lee was a flawed character who had John Cena-esque booking. She would flail and flop for a majority of the match only to pull out a submission and garner a quick win. Her promo work, sometimes, was a bit stilted and one-note. Her shorts were far too long at times. I jest. No, I say all this because as a writer of an opinion piece, there must be some sort of clout that I carry, so in the interest of integrity, I want to agree with most of the flaws pointed out by peers and readers alike. With that being said, there is much more to be highlighted about the fact that NONE of this is her fault, and instead, it only pontificates what the point of this column is – the simple fact that she had a role to play, played it well, and today we say goodbye not just to AJ Lee the performer and wrestler, but AJ Lee, the idea.

Thank you, AJ Lee