AJ Lee retires from WWE

[gl83]

[the2ndevil]

Apr 3, 2015 18:32:02 GMT -5 trollrogue said:

Unfortunately for her the last RAW match she was a part of was full of disrespectful fans and catcalls for female performers. It's no mystery why AJ would have soured on making daily sacrifices for the "fans" of the industry.

That's a real good point.

[willyjakes]

no

NOOOOO

I need weekly doses of her abs.

[froggyfrog]

Apr 3, 2015 18:48:52 GMT -5 Zombie Mod said:

Apr 3, 2015 18:48:12 GMT -5 froggyfrog said:

I was referring to the pregnancy that started the morning of Mania. I should have clarified.

what is she having this time?

This time I have no idea. That time I think it was identical quads? Not sure

[Kevin Hamilton]

Apr 3, 2015 19:15:25 GMT -5 froggyfrog said:

Apr 3, 2015 18:48:52 GMT -5 Zombie Mod said:

what is she having this time?

This time I have no idea. That time I think it was identical quads? Not sure

Don't blame me, I gotta text that said 'stick the winner.'

What's a HoFer supposed to do?

WTF Kevin Nash knocked up yer wife LOL

[Gravedigger's Biscuits]

Apr 3, 2015 19:11:51 GMT -5 the2ndevil said:

Apr 3, 2015 18:32:02 GMT -5 trollrogue said:

Unfortunately for her the last RAW match she was a part of was full of disrespectful fans and catcalls for female performers. It's no mystery why AJ would have soured on making daily sacrifices for the "fans" of the industry.

That's a real good point.

Yeah, one disrespectful chant in her entire 5 years on the WWE roster that happened 4 days before she announced her retirement, a decision that would likely take weeks and probably even months to make, caused her to quit her career.

Or probably not.

[Sephiroth]

You all know what this means?


MORE BELLAS!

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

Apr 3, 2015 19:17:52 GMT -5 Kevin Hamilton said:

Apr 3, 2015 19:15:25 GMT -5 froggyfrog said:

This time I have no idea. That time I think it was identical quads? Not sure

Don't blame me, I gotta text that said 'stick the winner.'

What's a HoFer supposed to do?

WTF Kevin Nash knocked up yer wife LOL

[gl83]

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

[Kevin Hamilton]

Apr 3, 2015 19:23:45 GMT -5 Mighty Attack Tribble said:

Burt's totally off-screen mockingly yelling "AAAAAJJJJ!"

[gr1990]

Good for her for accomplishing everything she did, it was pretty against the odds to come from where she did, look like she did and act like she did and become the most popular female wrestler of her generation. I personally thought she was very talented, and while her last year was far from her best work, consider that

1. she barely got into her stride after taking time off before she was injured again
2. she was working for a company who fired her husband on their wedding day and is now in the process of suing him
3. she could have been carrying a million nagging injuries limiting her, hence the retirement

It must have took guts to still come to work in those circumstances, I don't think she was so much 'phoning it in' as 'desperately trying to hold it together both physically and mentally.'

I won't miss the constant threads bitching about her every move. I don't think anyone's been singled out for so much unwarranted and overly-intense criticism. People took (and are still taking in this thread) such perverse delight in trashing her, then proceeded to say it was her fans who had an unhealthy obsession with her, which undoubtedly some of them do, but geez, people acted like she'd murdered a loved one of theirs, rather than taken up five minutes of their Monday night doing something they didn't find particularly entertaining. Good luck to her anyhoo.

[FinalGwen]

AJ was a breath of fresh air for women's wrestling in the WWE. She could have good-great matches with most of the division and had great chemistry with a lot of her peers (particularly Kaitlyn). I think she also broke the mould somewhat in terms of how Divas could look. Paige and Bayley being around in title matches makes more sense following AJ than following Kelly Kelly or Maryse. And boy did she have remarkable character growth over the years.

If someone did a 'Wrestling Isn't Wrestling' there'd be a lot to analyse in there. There were two threads that ran through a lot of her story, and that was her relationships with Bryan and Kaitlyn. Of course you've got the formation of the Chickbusters in their early days in NXT, and after they make their debuts in WWE properly they team for a while, but that degenerated when she fell into the arms of Bryan. Despite putting herself in harms way for him he doesn't value her at all, and Kaitlyn's warnings about him form the first cracks in that relationship. After treating her like crap for months and her sticking with him, Bryan sees her as a liability after '18 seconds' and breaks up with her, which also causes her friendship with Kaitlyn to deteriorate further as she lashes out and becomes the 'crazy' one.
But then she starts psyching out the main eventers, making sure Bryan can't escape her even in the main event. As she becomes crucial to the results of title matches, Bryan starts to see how she can be of value to him, and tries to reopen their relationship, still the manipulator, only for her to reveal he's been outplayed as she reveals her GM role. Now she has the power, from victim to the one in control. And in the end, her actions as GM shape Bryan's role in the company from that point on, anger management leading to Team Hell No leading to Bryan's desire to be seen as not-the-weak-link to not-a-B+-player. Meanwhile, AJ is using the routines she's learnt in her first foray in the main event to form relationships with Cena and Ziggler, becoming the maker of champions. She builds a stable around herself that she also uses in her wrestling career, becoming the champion and using people like Big E to help to psych out Kaitlyn, that friendship now down the tubes. AJ has become ironically close to Bryan when he was using her as an asset to his title reign. And soon after, Kaitlyn is gone entirely.
So as things slow down, she keeps allies around, but it's less... Passionate than before. No romances, no real friendships, no permanent stables. Short lived alliances with the few people she hasn't burnt bridges with, like Layla and Tamina, as she struggles to hold onto her belt. And then she meets an equal, someone who can match her step for step in Paige, who ends the longest title reign in years. And AJ's final act in the company is to team with her once rival, putting their 'frenemy' status aside to win at Wrestlemania, maybe as a surrogate for her former long running best friend/biggest rival?

[Rave]

Good riddance. She can take the Bellas and Stephanie with her.

[Richard]

I just remembered that I said there was no way she could come back after that lawsuit was filed and she came back long enough for me to look stupid before quitting on everyone. Dammit, that is cold AJ.

[Crimson]

Apr 3, 2015 18:32:02 GMT -5 trollrogue said:

Unfortunately for her the last RAW match she was a part of was full of disrespectful fans and catcalls for female performers. It's no mystery why AJ would have soured on making daily sacrifices for the "fans" of the industry.

Another thing she has in common with her idol Lita.

[Deleted]

It's interesting that they use the word "retire." Have they ever said that about anyone leaving, ever?

[Perd]

Apr 3, 2015 19:41:22 GMT -5 @nichotine said:

It's interesting that they use the word "retire." Have they ever said that about anyone leaving, ever?

It really is an oddly worded statement. 

[Widow's Peak]

I can't honestly say I'm surprised considering how relatively little she worked in the past few months. Plus, I can imagine things were really awkward considering who she's married to. She had a pretty solid career and probably pocketed a good chunk of change, so good for her.

It will be interesting to see who steps into the void as the new top Diva. There doesn't seem to be another girl who is as much of an all-around talent as AJ was. Paige maybe? At least until they call up someone from NXT.

[Ron Woodsman aka Shempaholic]

Apr 3, 2015 19:48:48 GMT -5 Perd said:

Apr 3, 2015 19:41:22 GMT -5 @nichotine said:

It's interesting that they use the word "retire." Have they ever said that about anyone leaving, ever?

It really is an oddly worded statement. 

JR "retired".