The wrestling rumour mill is running rampant once again and for the third time in 2014, AJ Lee is reportedly “done” with the WWE. Certain belief, sparked by Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline.com, is that should AJ drop the WWE Divas Championship to Nikki Bella at Survivor Series this Sunday, it will be the final nail in the coffin that is the career of the Geek Goddess. Of course, nothing is confirmed and such, the details are quite limited at best. Dave Meltzer recently stated this wasn’t the case on the Wrestling Observer radio show.
Earlier this year, AJ dropped the Divas championship to a debuting Paige on an episode of Raw, the night following her big win at Wrestlemania as part of the Vickie Guerrero Invitational match. This prompted the WWE Universe to believe that it was the beginning of the end for AJ. Her marriage to former WWE Superstar CM Punk on June 13 along with pregnancy rumors were fuel to the fire of AJ Lee not returning to the WWE. However on June 30, she made her return to the company, defeating Paige to re-capture the Divas Championship is similar fashion to Paige’s victory over AJ, three months before.
Then, two months ago, AJ Lee was reportedly stepping away from the company and dropping the Divas Championship to Paige. Obviously that did not happen and Alvarez himself was one of the first to shoot down the rumours at the time. This time around, Alvarez seems to believe that a third time is the charm and AJ is indeed leaving the company.
So why this time?
As mentioned earlier, AJ is set to defend her Divas Championship this Sunday at Survivor Series against Nikki Bella, one of the Divas that the WWE is attempting to centralize and mold into being the top female competitor of the company. This was to be expected, as the WWE has put an ample amount of concentration into building importance to the Total Divas series, a faux-reality series featuring the Bella Twins, among several other Divas. The show has leaked into the wrestling product in the last year, overlapping into the actual wrestling product, while leading to a Nikki Bella heel turn and a storyline involving both Bella Twins and Stephanie McMahon. The next step for Nikki, after defeating her sister to earn 30 days of service from her sister, is to win the Divas championship and go on a run leading to a program involving Brie for the championship.
Eyebrows raised when AJ Lee released her own personal website AJ-Brooks.com. While the personalized website is nothing more than your typical fan-service style domain featuring photos, a Q&A section and a glimpse into the life of the person behind the persona, it’s unusual to see her go by her married name of Brooks, the family name of the estranged CM Punk, real name Phil Brooks. The website and AJ Lee going by her married name as opposed to her ring name could be seen as a sign of rebellion, given CM Punk’s status with the company at this time. Along with the website itself, run by a team of four people including AJ herself, she has also opened up a new Twitter account, @AJBrooksCom, in affiliation with the website.
Her marriage in itself could be one the reasons this rumour is valid this time around. Nobody can quite claim they know the woman from the inside but one can make the assumption that after being married to Mr. Brooks for just six months, she might want to spend more time with her newlywed and perhaps move in with him in his hometown of Chicago. This would be rather impossible to pull off if she was traveling on the road with the WWE for 300+ days a year. Then again, their relationship was running strong before their wedding and that includes the time Punk left the company and caused a rift between he and the WWE, given the circumstances as to why he left in the first place.
Nothing is set in stone at this moment and even if AJ Lee drops the Championship at Survivor Series, can anyone count her out of the company? Maybe it boils down to a creative decision and AJ is scripted into a different storyline, taking her away from the Divas championship picture for the time being in order for the Bella Twins to battle for it while AJ takes on a new chapter of her wrestling career with the WWE. Then again, perhaps there is more to this rumour, as AJ is advertised as being booked through until TLC in December, and then nothing more following the pay-per-view.
One question that comes to mind is; What IF AJ Lee were to leave the WWE for good? What would the Divas Division look like without arguably their biggest star? Paige could be on the forefront to take over that spot but her inexperience is her biggest threat right now. The Bella Twins are also still around and should Nikki capture the Divas championship, look for the two of them to duke it out for the title. After that, you’re left with sparsely-used Natalya and Tamina Snuka, back-up dancers Naomi, Cameron, Layla and Summer Rae, not-as-crazy Alicia Fox and the bottom of the barrel that includes Emma, Rosa Mendez and Eva Marie. Clearly the division is already quite weak and subtracting AJ puts it into severe danger.
A quick solution to this problem would be a call-up. In the sports realm, whenever a team deals with injuries or retirement, they have a surplus of up-and-comers ready to grab the bull by the horns and take on the challenge. For the WWE, they have their own developmental program in NXT and no other Diva stands a chance in the WWE at this time than Charlotte, daughter of Hall of Famer Ric Flair. The current NXT Women’s Champion is head and shoulders above the rest of the women’s roster in the program, it’s easy to claim. There is no challenge anymore for her in NXT and the next big step to take would be to make her debut in the WWE. She has it all, a great look and physique, good in-ring skills, a personality that is easy to get behind and the charisma inside the ring that wrestling fans long for. The only knock against her is the fact that she isn’t already in the WWE.
After Charlotte, NXT dips into WWE territory in the sense that there is not much else to look forward to. Bayley is an exciting character that fans support and her work in the ring is improving, especially when she is billed against Charlotte, but she still needs work in development. Sasha Banks is well on her way but she’s not quite there yet and her microphone skills need some adjusting. Becky Lynch is a new face that could be threat in the WWE at some point but she’ll need to take advantage of the NXT stage before then. Simply put, it’s Charlotte or bust.
While it’s fun to play the guessing game and get lost in the rumour mill, we’ve been here before. It’s best to take these rumors with a grain of salt and just enjoy the show. If AJ Lee sticks around, it will be for the better of the division in its current state. Should she up and leave the company for good, the door will be open for someone to step up and take the division over, be it someone currently on the roster or an NXT superstar like Charlotte.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter –@CrimsonSkorpion. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Main Photo:
