It’s only been a few months since AJ Lee announced her retirement, and we miss her already. Her awesome promos. Her manic skipping to the ring. Her cuteness and sexiness, which was based on her attitude and personality rather than how little clothing she had on. But most of all, her aggressive, natural athleticism, which was refined on NXT, and just became more impressive over time. In short, AJ raised the bar on what it means to be a Diva.
But when AJ retired, she didn’t leave a good taste in everyone’s mouth. AJ Lee played the loose cannon on Raw and Smackdown!, but there was a bit of truth to that characterization. Yes, she made a lot of fans, but she also made a lot of enemies on the roster itself. It was bound to happen; whenever someone reaches the top of his or her profession, there’s going to be competition, infighting, and a ton of adversaries gunning for the top spot. Plus, she’s married to CM Punk, of all people — that guy hasn’t been on anyone’s good side for quite some time.
Here are 10 Major WWE Superstars Who Hated AJ Lee. Because a black widow spider leaves a lot of victims in her wake.
10. Michelle Beadle
Granted, Beadle isn’t really a WWE Superstar, but this particular instance of backstage drama is just too good to pass up. Apparently, the ESPN actor saw CM Punk in the hallway at 2013’s Tribute to the Troops, and said, “What’s up f***face?” to the straight edge superstar. This, apparently, set AJ off, and she got right in Beadle’s face.
Beadle, to her credit, claims that she wasn’t flirting with Punk. Regardless, however, the WWE wasn’t having it; AJ was almost fired on the spot. CM Punk, meanwhile, took AJ’s side, and dealt with the problem by firing off passive aggressive tweets like the one above. And of course, as a result of that bizarre, awkward incident, Beadle and Punk haven’t spoken since.
9. Jerry Lawler
Near the end of 2013, AJ went on a bit of a tear against Jerry Lawler. It started in September, when AJ was sitting in on commentary, and Lawler asked her about her tattoos. In response, AJ smoothly said, “I think I’m a little too old for you, Jerry, I’m 26. I know you like ’em younger.” Ouch.
In a later shoot interview with Bleacher Report, AJ explained why she put Lawler on blast:
“When you do commentary you don’t really plan anything. I watch my matches back and Jerry Lawler rubs me the wrong way. The way he talks about the girls and me in particular. As a character I feel like she wouldn’t like him. So, I went out there thinking “I’m ready to fight any of you.”
A little over a year later, there was no love lost between these two. Lawler presented a Slammy to AJ, and they shared what might have been the most awkward hug in WWE history.
8. Chris Amann
We’re doing a little guesswork here, but we’d classify this one as a mutual distaste. Punk claims that Amann, the ringside doctor for the WWE, misdiagnosed a lump on his back, which turned out to be a potentially deadly staph infection.
In response, Amann filed a defamation lawsuit against Punk, and the WWE supported Amann, by providing corroborating evidence to support his claim.
Meanwhile, AJ Lee, was still wrestling for the WWE. The guy she was trusting with her health was the same guy who allegedly almost killed her husband. That had to make for some tense ringside interaction.
7. Jay Lethal
Before she married CM Punk, AJ had a long term, serious relationship with Jay Lethal, who was also her first trainer when she began wrestling in 2007. They eventually broke up, and from all public appearances, it seems like the split was fairly amicable — Lethal even praised AJ’s blossoming career in the press.
But then, there was a really low promo earlier this year, when Lethal called out Punk as taking his ‘hand me downs.’ Was it a shoot or a worked shoot? Whatever it was, it seemed like a dig that got a little too personal, especially since neither Punk nor AJ were working for TNA, and thus, could not respond.
6. Lita
It’s a love triangle that would make for a great Hollywood film. AJ Lee idolized Lita; she was 13 years old when she met her ringside, and burst into tears. Years later, when AJ began working for the WWE, she started dating CM Punk; prior to AJ, Punk had dated Lita.
According to a verified WWE insider on Reddit, AJ and Punk actually started flirting and seeing each other while Lita was still in the picture. “I think a lot went on when Lita would be sitting by herself and he was chatting with AJ,” the insider said. “A lot went down at the arena.”
The insider went on to claim that Lita would never have been inducted into the Hall of Fame if CM Punk was still working for the WWE. “Their breakup and dating AJ would not have sat well with all 3 parties,” the insider claimed. “It would have been even more uncomfortable for Lita.”
5. Alex Riley
We don’t really know too many details about this one, but boy, we wish we did. When AJ announced her retirement on April 3, the responses from her industry peers were glowingly positive. Except, that is, for Alex Riley’s.
In what many people interpreted as a thinly veiled diss against AJ, Riley tweeted, “I just got 4-3-15 tattooed on my neck.” It’s a direct reference to AJ’s own neck tattoo, which depicts the date of her first Diva title win.
Since then, Riley has declined to elaborate further, which leaves much to the imagination.
4. Vince McMahon
Vince was an AJ mark for the longest time. Allegedly, after the Beadle incident, it was Vince who overrode the decision to fire AJ on the spot. But then, less than a week after Wrestlemania XXXI, AJ announced her retirement. At Wrestlemania, the Bella Twins were beaten by Paige and AJ; it is unlikely that the brass would have allowed AJ to go over, had they they known that she was retiring.
The WWE were extremely cordial in their response to AJ’s retirement, but is Vince is happy about the way things played out? One would think not.
Even though she’s retired, the WWE kept her under contract, which prevents her from performing anywhere else.
3. Stephanie McMahon
It was an iconic (if somewhat disingenuous moment) at this year’s Academy Awards; actress Patricia Arquette made a bold statement about equal payment and opportunities for women in Hollywood. As Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan so brilliantly put it, “Declaring one’s support for social equality while standing on stage at the Oscars is a little like declaring your pacifism while wildly firing a machine gun, but sure, it’s better than nothing.”
Stephanie took this opportunity to state her support of Patricia Arquette, and in response, AJ completely blew up her boss’ spot. She tweeted the following:
“Your female wrestlers have record selling merchandise & have starred in the highest rated segment of the show several times, and yet they receive a fraction of the wages & screen time of the majority of the mail roster. #UseYourVoice”
Stephanie tweeted back some corporate approved niceties, the original AJ tweet was deleted, and no one ever mentioned it, ever again.
2. Nikki Bella
Within the storyline, AJ and Nikki hated each other, but there have been persistent rumors that the hatred extended to real life as well. The motivations for this vary — that Nikki was a bit of a spoiled brat backstage; that there was jealousy over John Cena; that AJ was jealous of the Bellas’ success.
Whatever the case, this much is true: Nikki delivered a harsh anti-AJ shoot on Smackdown! in late 2014, and it was so brutal that the WWE edited it for broadcast. Here it is, uncensored:
“I’m not going to say trashy, classless things like Ms. Lee did because unlike Ms. Lee, I actually care about the kids that sit in this audience. It’s time that everyone heard the real truth about AJ Lee. Yes, we heard over and over and over again your sob story. Yes, we have heard over and over about how hard you worked. But you wanna know what? I have worked harder. The biggest difference between you and me is that I don’t have to go tell everyone so they like me. And most important, that is what makes me fearless.
You wanna know why you don’t have any friends? It’s because you’re so threatened by anyone who doesn’t like you. AJ, I want you to take a good hard look at what a woman is, a real woman, a classy woman! I want you to take a look at what a real Divas champion looks like. AJ, I want you to know that forever, through these fearless eyes, you will always be that pathetic manipulating little girl from New Jersey.”
Nikki would later tweet about the edits, and she encouraged the WWE Universe to find the entire, uncensored text online.
1. The Entire Total Divas Roster
There have been several instances, over the past few years, that AJ has generated major heat backstage amongst members of the Total Divas cast. The first instance was a blistering shoot promo in 2013, targeted against all of the women on the show:
“Do you wanna know what I see when I look in that ring? Honestly? A bunch of cheap, interchangeable, expendable, useless women. Women who have turned to reality television ’cause they just weren’t gifted enough to be actresses. And they just weren’t talented enough to be champion.
I have done more in one year than all of you have done in your entire collective careers. I have saved your Divas division, I have shattered glass ceilings, I have broken down doors. Why? So, so, a bunch of ungrateful, stiff, plastic mannequins can waltz on through without even getting as much of a thank you? You guys can’t even go backstage and shake my hand and look at me in the eyes because you know that I worked my entire life to get here, I gave my life to this and you were just handed fifteen minutes of fame.
I didn’t get here because I was cute, or because I came from a famous wrestling family, or because I sucked up to the right people. I got here because I am good. I earned this Championship and no matter how many red carpets you guys wanna walk in your four thousand dollars ridiculous heels, you will never be able to lace up my Chuck Taylors. You’re all worthless excuses for women and you will never be able to touch me. And that is reality.”
And then there was her final appearance at the Slammys, where she put over the NXT roster as being the future of the Divas division, without namechecking anyone on the main roster except for Paige. It may have the cold, hard truth (NXT women’s wrestling is light years ahead of the main roster’s), but the truth isn’t always pleasant, and certainly doesn’t make any friends.
