AJ Lee Retires

AJ Lee has retired from the WWE. The possibility that this would happen was alive for about a year now. Ever since CM Punk, the man she is now married to, walked out on the WWE, the issue of AJ leaving and what would happen next was there. I have discussed it on a few occasions. I might end up just repeating a lot of what I have said before now.

First, I do not see this as that huge of a loss. AJ Lee was a top periphery diva during this current dark age. She had her big rise in the periphery, getting angles in the men's division, in 2012. She had worked with top stars for about a year after that. That transitioned to her winning the Diva's Championship. This was the first star the WWE created in their diva division since Trish and Lita left. But there were issues. After they did stop pushing her so hard in the periphery and started having her in the title scene, I feel some of that overness died down. Being involved with CM Punk led to fans often chanting for him whenever she was out there more than they would for her. Paige seemed to have started to connect with fans better than AJ, despite the fact that Paige was only being pushed as a credible jobber. I have brought up that heel Nikki Bella promo against AJ Lee on Smackdown that got cheered. I have seen some fans say she was phoning it in during the last year with the company. They say she wasn't giving it her all in the ring. As I have said before, she was better off in the periphery. If she had stayed, that is where I think they should have put her back.

One of the reasons the WWE has failed to create stars in their diva division in recent years is that some of those women they develop to be stars leave before they can really get over properly. I am not necessarily putting AJ Lee in that category. She had gotten over. But I do not think the WWE got the most out of their investment in her. She has not even reached 30. She still could have been active for another 10 years. And pushed as a periphery diva, an injury would not have screwed her over at all. Lita suffered many injuries during her run in the WWE, but was frequently getting angles alongside the men to help keep her looking interesting. After everything the WWE has put into AJ Lee and how they have pushed her in such a short period of time, they should have gotten more out of her. I wouldn't consider her a true flop, but this did not turn out as great for the WWE as it should have.

I do not think she is going to end up in TNA or ROH or Lucha Underground. Her husband has become a legend. He is in the UFC now. The two of them are pretty much set. If AJ Lee did want to wrestle again, I am sure the WWE would take her back. She was a creation of the WWE. She has come and gone and the WWE has still pushed her well. She has taken public shots at her bosses and they still bring her back and let her have a Wrestlemania moment. Just as much as I believe they would love to take CM Punk back, the same goes for his wife.

Now that she is gone, depth in the diva division is looking bad. Losing someone you rarely see on TV would not be a huge blow. The WWE just lost someone they treated as a star. They have The Bellas. As far as top-tier stars go, that's it. Lana is an eye-candy periphery diva. Paige is a credible jobber. Stephanie McMahon is on another level. The WWE could try running an efficient division with The Bellas as the centerpiece. They do not need to fill the void AJ has left. But I think they should. I see that there are some fans that are easily satiated just by the WWE giving these women 10 minutes to work on most Raws. Regardless, there are some fans that want a female wrestler to support. The Bellas are not liked by many of these fans I am talking about. AJ Lee was a hero to many of these fans. Paige or Charlotte are the top candidates to fill that spot. Charlotte has become solid in the ring. I would personally go with Paige. She has already started to connect well with the fans on the main roster. As I mentioned before, many fans were choosing her over AJ even before AJ retired.

Overall, this is not a huge loss for the diva division, considering they were still inefficient and AJ Lee did not seem to be connecting with the audience the same way she was when she was pushed harder years ago. However, losing the first real star you had created in about 5 years is a blow. It will be interesting to see how much motivation the WWE shows with their diva division now. They can get lazy and just rely on fans being content with longer matches. It would be better if they give another diva the huge push AJ Lee got back in 2012. It would make the division a lot more exciting.