On Friday, April 3rd, WWE confirmed via their official Twitter account that AJ Lee (real name April Mendez-Brooks) has left the company. It's worded as a retirement from in-ring competition. This doesn't come as much of a surprise to anyone who's been following her career over the past several years since many people expected her to follow her husband CM Punk out the door when he left in early 2014. Her last few performances with the company have given the appearance that she was halfheartedly going through the motions, and it must have been incredibly tough continuing to be employed by a company that her husband has been strongly outspoken against. Back in February, Lee criticized WWE executive Stephanie McMahon, basically calling her a hypocrite after she praised Patricia Arquette for advocating gender equality amongst earners. The former Divas champ said that WWE's female performers are paid a fraction of what the males receive while being afforded significantly less screen time, despite having generated record-selling merchandise and several highly-rated segments. Publicly, Stephanie thanked Lee for her comments but it's safe to assume it led to resentment between both parties and may have helped influence this decision. Lee signed with the company in May of 2009 and made her debut on the main roster two years later. Anyone familiar with her background is aware that being a WWE superstar was a childhood dream for her, and she reached the pinnacle of her profession; being a 3x Divas champion with the longest reign of all-time at an impressive 295 days. AJ was a bright spot during some of the division's most uninspiring years and could always be counted on to carry her end of any match or angle she was booked in, as well as being one of the top merchandiser movers on the entire roster. To her many legions of fans, she will be sorely missed. The following is the message WWE posted on Twitter:
"BREAKING: AJ Lee (April Mendez) has decided to retire from in-ring competition with WWE. We wish AJ the very best."
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
