The Black Widow claimed another victim in Nikki Bella at Wrestlemania 31/ photo: wwe.com
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hether or not this can be considered a surprising turn of events or expected (depends on who you’re conversing with) remains to be seen.
But unless you’ve been under a rock for the past near 24 hours, then you’ve heard by now that WWE announced that two-time Divas Champion and resident “crazy chick” AJ Lee has retired from in-ring competition. She has, since then, been moved to the Alumni section of WWE’s official website.
Speculation has run rampant since the announcement, from pregnancy rumors (fueled by a suspicious photo of her and NXT Diva Bayley from Wrestlemania weekend) to conflicts of interest due to the company’s current lawsuit against her husband, former talent CM Punk.
It’s been nothing but radio silence from Lee and the only acknowledgement Punk has given has been in the form of a Tweet with the hashtag #ThankYouAJ.
Love her or hate her, one cannot deny the impact that she made upon the Divas Division in her four years with the company’s main roster.
WWE is constantly chided by the fans for choosing to hire models over actual wrestlers and for caring more about aesthetics than talent. AJ was in fact one of the very few that not only broke that mold, but helped start to form a revision of the division, namely in the past month with the #GiveDivasAChance movement (though personally, it seems like there should have been an inclusion of ALL the Divas, and not just the top four, but that’s just me). She has proven that you don’t have to be a supermodel to make it, that geek is chic, and you can get by on skills alone. She could fight, she could talk, she was versatile, and she assisted in paving the way for many of the talent that are set to rise in the company.
Am I bummed to see her go? Well, yeah! I adored her, as did many. I actually wanted to be a wrestler when I was a kid. But at the time that I wanted this, I was also growing up during the Attitude Era, where all the women still had a certain look that I did not – and still do not – possess, nor would I unless I dropped serious cash on cosmetic surgery. I gave up on that because I felt I would never have what it took to get into the company (among other reasons).
Fast forward to 2012, where I’m watching Wrestlemania 28, my first PPV and first time watching wrestling in well over a decade. I see this tiny girl skipping out with Daniel Bryan and I thought she was merely a valet. When I was told she was actually a wrestler and saw some of her matches, I was ecstatic, blown away even. This itty bitty little girl from New Jersey was one of the most over Divas in the company?! It gave me hope. It was so refreshing to see someone like me in the company; someone who was petite, feisty, far from glam, and a geek. Someone who was just a straight up fan who made it big. It gave me hope for the future.
Do I think the Divas division is doomed without her? Not a chance. Since the movement began, we’ve been getting progressively longer and more well thought out matches. Nikki Bella is a beast in that ring. Naomi is far underestimated in her talents and if Smackdown is anything to go by, we may see her get a push for the belt soon, which would be amazing. Natalya has always been a strong technical wrestler, coming from great stock. Paige is arguably the most over talent the division has right now and looks to be taking over AJ’s spot.
I hope that with this subtle revamp the division is getting, we’ll see more out of other talent, like Summer Rae, Alicia Fox and Emma.
Honestly, I’d also like to see Layla come back for one more run. Let’s not discount NXT either; with a Diva gone, it’s high-time to call up either Charlotte or Bayley (with Charlotte being most likely). The future of the Divas looks bright. It’s limping on, but thanks to those AJ and those who came before her, it can be fixed.
In her acceptance speech for winning the Slammy for “Diva of the Year” back in December, she put over the entire NXT women’s roster, and stated “I’m not done being queen yet.” Well, looks like her reign has ended. It’s time to see who will be crowned next.
