April Jeanette "AJ" Brooks (née Mendez), more professionally known as AJ Lee (born March 19, 1987, in Union City, New Jersey), is a retired professional wrestler, former WWE Diva, former FCW Divas Champion and a 3 time WWE Divas Champion who is best known for her standout villainous role. She holds the record for the longest WWE Divas Championship reign at 295 days, from June 16, 2013 (Payback 2013, from Kaitlyn via submission) to April 7, 2014 (Raw, to Paige via pinfall). She currently ties Eve Torres with 3 total reigns as the Divas Champion.
Character Background[]
AJ became a villainess in FCW when she stood by and watched FCW Divas Champion Naomi get attacked by Serena Deeb during an interview segment. Weeks after her heel turn, the evil AJ expressed jealousy of Naomi in a different interview segment, and she would eventually defeat Naomi to win the FCW Divas Championship in December 2010.
At TLC in December 2012, AJ turned heel by costing John Cena the ladder match and aligning herself with Dolph Ziggler. She claimed that Cena didn't care about her, just like Daniel Bryan, Kane, and CM Punk in the past. Months later, AJ engaged in a feud with Kaitlyn, which led to one of her most villainous acts: having her friend Big E Langston pose as a secret admirer to Kaitlyn and breaking her heart at the week before Payback. AJ would defeat the distraught Kaitlyn at Payback to win the WWE Divas Championship. She would add insult to injury by dressing at Kaitlyn and mocking the moment that she was humiliated by her and Big E.
After costing Dolph Ziggler a chance to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Alberto Del Rio, Ziggler broke up with her the next night on RAW. Out of revenge, AJ cost Ziggler his rematch against Del Rio and then had Big E Langston attack him. AJ would still have Kaitlyn to deal with after she lost a non-title match to her a week later. Four days later on SmackDown, AJ successfully defended her title against Kaitlyn after the evil Layla turned against Kaitlyn during the match. She even caused Kaitlyn to lose to Layla in a grudge match on Raw.
In recent of her championship reign months, she began trash talking and bullying the cast of WWE's reality show, Total Divas with her bodyguard, Tamina Snuka. In consecutive PPVs, AJ retained her title against the entire Total Divas cast, among others. She currently holds the longest reign as Divas Champion for 295 days, breaking Maryse's record. She retained the Divas Championship at WrestleMania XXX, outlasting the entire diva roster, but lost the Championship the next night on Raw, to former NXT Women's Champion, Paige.
Afterward, AJ Lee was granted time off from WWE. It was revealed that her real life counterpart (April Mendez) is engaged to CM Punk, who had left the WWE following the 2014 Royal Rumble PPV. When she returned after two months, she defeated Paige on the June 30, 2014, edition of Raw to win back the Divas Championship.
She later lost the title to Paige again on August 17, 2014, at SummerSlam, but regained it from her in a triple threat match that also involved Nikki Bella in the following pay-per-view, Night of Champions, on September 21, 2014. by making her tap out to the Black Widow. She then went to successfully retain the WWE Divas Championship against Paige at the next pay-per-view, Hell in a Cell, on October 26, 2014, using the same method as in the previous pay per view, Night of Champions, by making her tap out to the Black Widow, thus ending their feud.
AJ would then go into a feud with The Bella Twins, Brie and Nikki. After Nikki had won a Divas battle royal on the Halloween edition of Smackdown, by last eliminating Paige, she got a chance to challenge AJ for the Divas Championship at Survivor Series. At the PPV, AJ lost the championship to Nikki Bella in 35 seconds after Brie Bella interfered and kissed AJ at the beginning of the match in which resulted in Nikki pinning AJ after landing the Rack Attack. Following the night after Survivor Series, on the November 24, 2014, edition of Raw, AJ fought Brie Bella, in which she lost to after a roll-up. After the match, AJ stated to The Bella Twins that "Talent is not sexually transmitted." referring to what Brie did to AJ that cost her the Divas Championship and allowed her sister to win it within a matter of seconds.
AJ fought Nikki Bella in a rematch for the WWE Divas Championship at the PPV TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Stairs on December 14, 2014, in a losing effort after Nikki sprayed hairspray in the face and eyes of AJ while the referee was distracted in sending Brie Bella out of the match and then pinned her after performing the Rack Attack. AJ was later diagnosed with chemical conjunctivitis following the spray in the face and eyes by Nikki Bella, but her eyes were able to be flushed out with a saline solution, preventing any long-term damage to her vision.
After a three month absence to heal a legitimate neck injury, AJ returned on the March 2, 2015, edition of Raw, coming to the aid of her former rival Paige, who was being attacked by the Bella Twins. AJ and Paige then allied together to defeat The Bella Twins at WrestleMania 31 on March 29.
On April 3, 2015, WWE had announced that AJ Lee had decided to retire from in-ring competition, thus confirming her departure from professional wrestling, but still under a contract of the company.
Personal life[]
In the WWE[]
As AJ Lee, she suffers from an ambiguously vague set of mental disorders , which were mildly hinted at from prior to her relationship with Daniel Bryan. During her storyline with Daniel Bryan, CM Punk and Kane, her mental condition began to deteriorate and this was especially evident as soon as Daniel Bryan broke up with her. Daniel Bryan's repeated psychological abuse and gaslighting on AJ Lee after their breakup also contributed to her psychological changes.
Since then, she picked up many of Daniel Bryan's machiavellian tendencies as well as his histrionic behavior when pursing her goals. She also became more upfront and blunt when confronting people and would always speak her mind. When things would not go her way, she would sometimes suffer from an emotional breakdown in public and would most times assault those who call her insane. Despite operating on limited resources, she can successfully wrestle with people stronger than her as well as successfully play mind games with them in order to put them at a disadvantage.
In Real Life[]
In real life, AJ is afflicted with Bipolar disorder and spent most of her life struggling to cope with it. She admitted to constructing most of AJ Lee's personality by amalgamating an exaggerated form of all of the negative aspects of her bipolar disorder. In real life, she is married Phil Brooks, better known as CM Punk, since June 13, 2014.
Accomplishments[]
- Florida Championship Wrestling
- FCW Divas Championship (1 time)
- Queen of FCW (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked her #48 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2011
- PWI Woman of the Year (2012)
- Women Superstars Uncensored
- WSU Tag Team Championship (1 time) — with Brooke Carter
- WSU/NWS King and Queen of the Ring (2009) — with Jay Lethal
- World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
- WWE Divas Championship (3 times)
- Slammy Award for Diva of the Year (2012, 2014)
- Slammy Award for Best Kiss of the Year (2012) — with John Cena
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- AJ appeared as the villainess in a video promoting the No Way Out PPV in 2012. The promo was an homage to the classic silent films, with AJ as a damsel in distress tied to the train tracks. She is later saved by Daniel Bryan, who ends up tied to the tracks himself. AJ laughed evilly at Bryan and is shown donning a stereotypical villainous mustache, revealing herself as the villainess who tied Bryan to the tracks.