AJ Lee: Climbing Down The Periphery Ladder Of Success

Lita started off with a cruiserweight at a time when he was getting pushed and won a title. She moved on to being a member of a stable with a popular tag team that won multiple tag titles. After an injury, it was only a matter of time before she found herself paired with a monster that once held the WWE Championship. That transitioned to her being involved with a man who has held multiple World titles and is currently in the Hall of Fame. When she did retire, she was part of a group with that individual and another man who has held numerous World titles and will likely be in the Hall of Fame. Lita spent the majority of her WWE career getting angles with the guys. She spent it in the periphery. That is what I would call climbing the ladder of success in the periphery.

And then, there was AJ Lee. After AJ Lee officially debuted on Smackdown, the WWE really started developing her alongside Daniel Bryan, who was World Champion at the time. Not bad. That soon moved into her being involved in a feud between Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, and Kane over the WWE Championship. That's a step up. They made her Raw GM. How many female wrestlers can say they were Raw GM for all those months? She then had a storyline with John Cena, the centerpiece of the company. Things started to go downhill since then. She was involved in a stable with Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston. Ziggler did eventually win the World title, but his injury ruined the chances of AJ getting a good rub from that. Ziggler has since been depushed. With those two breaking up, AJ is left with Big E, who is now feuding with Ziggler. AJ Lee is a periphery diva, much like Lita, but her career hasn't taken that steady rise to the top as Lita's did. That's not her fault, of course. The WWE developed her hard to make her a success. They just couldn't keep the ball rolling properly.

Of course, no need to feel bad for AJ. Not only does she still have a spot in the periphery, she is holding the Diva's Championship still. In time, they will come up with something better for her. They didn't put all that effort into her to drop it just like that. She has never been pushed as a jobber to the centerpiece, so none of her development has been for that. But which direction will show go on that ladder in the coming months alongside Big E Langston?

What about the WWE diva division in general? What is the landscape currently like? Everything seems to be in the periphery. What do I mean by that? All the diva angles seem to be on the sidelines of the title matters. AJ Lee, the Diva's Champion, has her angle against Ziggler currently going on. Those divas involved in that reality show, which I don't care to watch, don't have a proper wrestling feud going on. And Mrs. Fandango, Summer Rae, is still out there with Mr. Fandango, who has been depushed. She is still a likely candidate to one day be centerpiece. In terms of actual wrestling, there are no good feuds going on. Periphery divas are getting featured a lot. There are once again rumors that Kharma might be returning. Why not? This is the time in the diva division that would make the most sense and when she is likely to be treated as more than just a tool to put over a centerpiece. The WWE does not seem to be ready to develop a new one yet.