8 Ways AJ Lee Had A Huge Impact On WWE Divas Division

AJ's contributions to women’s wrestling go far beyond titles

AJ Lee finally put a year of speculation to rest Friday when it was announced that she was retiring from in-ring competition. The story, which broke on WWE.com comes just days after AJ made Divas Champion Nikki Bella tap out to the Black Widow at WrestleMania XXXI. The timing of the announcement is peculiar, as is its wording. Typically when a talent leaves WWE (see Justin Gabriel or Rey Mysterio), the company announces the wrestler has left WWE and wishes she or he the best in their future endeavors. In this case, it only referenced her retirement from competition. Regardless, AJ Lee has made a huge impact on women€™s wrestling during her four years on the main roster. She is the longest-reigning Divas Champion in WWE history at 295 days and is tied for the most title reigns with three. But AJ€™s contributions to women€™s wrestling go far beyond titles. Interestingly, despite the criticism being (rightly) levied at the way WWE dismissively treats female wrestling these days, AJ has been the rare, consistent bright spot through the years. Even though WWE managed to mangle AJ€™s character at times, she managed to get over and stay over for multiple years, which is no small feat. So as she retires from in-ring competition, let€™s look back on how AJ Lee made a positive contribution to women€™s wrestling.
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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.