AJ Lee Always Found A Way To Be In Major Storylines
Michael Hansen 
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WWE was not the best place to get over as a female wrestler when AJ Lee became a major star. An argument can be made that Lee was the most important female wrestler in between the Trish Stratus/Lita era and the women’s evolution. The odds were against AJ, but she thrived to become one of the most important characters in the entire promotion.Lee didn’t even start off with a push in the women’s division since that was a touch-and-go scenario for new women. WWE witnessed AJ getting over by working storylines with male wrestlers before moving into the Divas Championship spot. Lee had a remarkable career that saw her always finding a way to succeed in huge storylines.
AJ Got Over Faster Than Expected
WWE went with an all-women season of the original NXT series when it featured game show segments and matches to crown a winner receiving a main roster spot. Kaitlyn actually won the third season of all female talents, but AJ Lee and Naomi were standouts to get on WWE’s radar. Lee was called up not too long after Kaitlyn even though she fell just short of the winning spot.
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The initial role of AJ was to form a tag team with her real-life best friend Kaitlyn as the Chickbusters, with Natalya as their mentor. Lackluster feuds in the women’s division made the first few months forgettable, but Lee moved into a huge storyline right after. WWE booked Daniel Bryan and AJ together as a romantic couple during Bryan’s face run after winning Money in the Bank.
Bryan cashing the briefcase in to become World Champion turned him into a cowardly and dastardly heel character. Lee gained sympathy from having a manipulative boyfriend putting her in harm’s way. WWE however realized how valuable AJ was in huge moments like accidentally getting run over by Big Show chasing Bryan or kissing Bryan to unintentionally cause him the World Championship to Sheamus.
She Became A Breakout Sensation
The relationship between Daniel Bryan and AJ Lee ending led to her ascension to a bigger role coming quickly. Lee was already over after becoming arguably the most compelling aspect of Bryan’s first world title reign in WWE. However, it was Bryan trying to win her back while she moved into other romantic pairings with Kane and CM Punk that led to the star power reaching new heights.
All three wrestlers having romance angles with AJ was a bigger part of the Punk vs Bryan vs Kane storyline than the WWE Championship being on the line. WWE trusted Lee to cut promos and show off her character work as the driving force of a world title program, and it worked to perfection. The angle paid off with AJ tricking Bryan into a wedding segment before leaving him at the altar to become the Raw General Manager.
WWE only put characters they viewed as draws in that role by the time Lee was pushed as the GM and remained in main event storylines. The end of that role saw AJ entering another love triangle with John Cena and Dolph Ziggler. Lee turning on Cena was the reason for one of his few losses at the time to Ziggler. WWE having Cena share the microphone with AJ was the ultimate sign of their faith in her.
AJ Carried The Divas Division
AJ Lee’s star power grew while working storylines with the male wrestlers in main event scenarios. However, it paid off most when she channeled that credibility into a push in the Divas division. WWE witnessed the division growing worse after the departures of Trish Stratus, Lita, Mickie James, and Melina. Lee was the first name to truly break out and make fans invest in the women’s matches again.
A layered storyline with Kaitlyn saw AJ tormenting her former best friends with mind games all to get in her head before their Divas Championship match. The two delivered strongly in the ring together for one of the best Divas Title matches of the time with Lee winning the belt. WWE had Lee become the top star of the division for the next few years.
Fans loved AJ and cared more about the women’s matches to build some momentum for other names like Paige and the Bella Twins to get over. Lee made history as the first woman to get her own t-shirt in years and had the longest-reigning Divas Championship reign at the time before Nikki Bella passed her. It all started with AJ stepping up in stories with bigger names and culminated with her being the one to force some change to the women’s division before the evolution.
