AJ Lee Retires From World Wrestling Entertainment

Confirmed by WWE.com, AJ Lee has decided to retire as an in-ring competitor for World Wrestling Entertainment:

“AJ Lee (April Mendez) has decided to retire from in-ring competition with WWE. We wish AJ the very best.”

She last competed on pay-per-view in a Divas Tag Team bout at WrestleMania 31, teaming with Paige to defeat Nikki and Brie Bella. She then wrestled the following night, teaming with Paige and Naomi against Nikki, Brie and Natalya.

Lee signed with the company on May 5, 2009, working for Florida Championship Wrestling for a little over a year.

She was a participant on the third season of “NXT,” with Primo serving as her mentor. She was eventually eliminated after qualifying for the final three.

Lee has worked alongside several WWE superstars in the past, including Dolph Ziggler, Big E, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk and Kane. She even had a short stint as the General Manager of “Monday Night Raw.”

She ends her career as a three-time Divas Champion for 406 combined days, the most in WWE history. She’s also a three-time Slammy award winner for Diva of the Year.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Lee “Woman of the Year” from 2012 to 2014. She was also ranked No. 2 of the PWI Top 50 female wrestlers in 2014.

Editor’s Note

I’m not surprised by this announcement. It seemed apparent that her time with WWE was coming to an end. She’s certainly one of the greatest Divas in company history and will hopefully be recognized as such sometime in the future.

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