History Wrestling / AJLee

* [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Nice Job Breaking/Fixing It... Anti-Villain?]][=/=]GoneHorriblyRight: Wherever AJ fell on the alignment spectrum right after she ended up GM, she made it her personal mission to torment all of her ex-{{love interest}}s. The eventual result? [[Wrestling/TeamHellNo A pairing that dominated the airwaves and WWE's Tag Team division]] for the better part of ''a year.''

* AbhorrentAdmirer: To Wrestling/CMPunk in-universe - not so much because she's unattractive (she clearly isn't) but because she's... well, a bit off her rocker. At the height of her insanity, she even made '''Wrestling/{{Kane}}''' uncomfortable. Amusingly though, she would eventually go on to marry CM Punk in real life.

* ForWantOfANail: HOLY CRAP, her decision to hire Brad Maddox as a referee during her GM tenure seemed ''so'' insignificant at the time. Until you think about how things could have gone company-wide if Maddox wasn't hired.
** With no Maddox [[GroinAttack nut-punch]] to Wrestling/{{Ryback}}, Ryback becomes the WWE Champion in October 2012, ending CM Punk's title reign three months early and taking a huge bite out of his career bragging rights by cutting him off at 343 consecutive days, not 434. It's also possible that with no title to defend, Wrestling/PaulHeyman never makes the call to a [[Wrestling/TheShield certain trio of black-clad vigilantes]], drastically altering ''their'' story arc as well. And given Ryback's BadassDecay only happened after his issues with the Shield, who knows how long Ryback would have held the title...which might have done some serious card-scrambling at the Royal Rumble, where we could have had a returning [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Rock]] against Ryback or someone else entirely as opposed to Punk.
** As for Maddox himself, he stays in NXT, doesn't get noticed by the [=McMahons=], and ''doesn't become Wrestling/AJLee's successor as GM''. [[note]]Wrestling/VickieGuerrero was the ''de facto'' GM after AJ resigned, but Brad Maddox was the next to actually hold the true and permanent title.[[/note]]
** One must wonder what would have happened to the careers of herself ''and'' Wrestling/DanielBryan if not for the infamous 18-second Wrestlemania XXVIII loss to Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}. One could argue that this one sequence was the difference between each of those two being in the strong EnsembleDarkhorse category to gathering the momentum to being the most popular Superstar and Diva in the company respectively.

** Being credited with the longest reign with their respective title in the modern era. Punk, of course, with his 434-day WWE Title reign, and AJ, who in January 2014, passed {{Maryse}} for the longest reign with the Divas' Championship.

Currently, Mendez is most known as an accomplished writer and an advocate for mental health awareness and animal welfare. She released a memoir in 2017 titled ''Crazy Is My Superpower'' that went on to become a ''New York Times'' bestseller; the book covers her life from her turbulent youth to her time in WWE, shedding light on topics including her specific reasons for leaving WWE[[note]]permanent damage to her cervical spine and feeling that she had fulfilled all of her goals in the company[[/note]] and her lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder. She also found a writing partner in actress Creator/AimeeGarcia, with whom she has written two comic series based on ''Series/GLOW2017'' and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', started a production company named Scrappy Heart Productions, and was selected to co-write ''Blade of the 47 Ronin'', the 2022 sequel to ''Film/FortySevenRonin''. On her own, she has written a ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' comic and made the Black List's inaugural Latinx TV List with one of her scripts. She has additionally served as an ambassador for organizations including the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the Jed Foundation and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

After six years away from the wrestling industry, Mendez joined the [[Wrestling/WOWWomenOfWrestling Women of Wrestling ]](WOW) promotion as an executive producer in October 2021, where she provided color commentary from 2021 to 2023. She further revealed in an interview the same month that she has "physically, mentally [and] emotionally" healed from her time in wrestling, and therefore could return to the ring. However, she also stated that she is in no rush to do so, as she is comfortable with having the next generation of wrestlers take the reins.

Currently, Mendez is most known as an accomplished writer and an advocate for mental health awareness and animal welfare. She released a memoir in 2017 titled ''Crazy Is My Superpower'' that went on to become a ''New York Times'' bestseller; the book covers her life from her turbulent youth to her time in WWE, shedding light on topics including her specific reasons for leaving WWE[[note]]permanent damage to her cervical spine and feeling that she had fulfilled all of her goals in the company[[/note]] and her lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder. She also found a writing partner in actress Creator/AimeeGarcia, with whom she has written two comic series based on ''Series/GLOW2017'' and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', started a production company named Scrappy Heart Productions, and was selected to co-write ''Blade of the 47 Ronin'', the 2022 sequel to ''Film/FortySevenRonin''. On her own, she has written a ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' comic and made the Black List's inaugural Latinx TV List with one of her scripts. She has additionally served as an ambassador for organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the Jed Foundation and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Currently, Mendez is most known as an accomplished writer and an advocate for mental health awareness and animal welfare. She released a memoir in 2017 titled ''Crazy Is My Superpower'' that went on to become a ''New York Times'' bestseller; the book covers her life from her turbulent youth to her time in WWE, shedding light on topics including her specific reasons for leaving WWE[[note]]permanent damage to her cervical spine and feeling that she had fulfilled all of her goals in the company[[/note]] and her lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder. She also found a writing partner in actress Creator/AimeeGarcia, with whom she has written two comic series based on ''Series/GLOW2017'' and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', started a production company named Scrappy Heart Productions, and was selected to co-write ''Blade of the 47 Ronin'', the 2022 sequel to ''Film/FortySevenRonin''. On her own, she has also written a ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' comic and made the Black List's inaugural Latinx TV List with one of her scripts.

April Jeanette Mendez[[note]]she has publicly gone under the surnames "Brooks" and "Mendez Brooks" in the past, but currently goes under her original surname[[/note]] (born March 19, 1987) is an American author and screenwriter, former professional wrestler, and former executive producer of the [[Wrestling/WOWWomenOfWrestling Women of Wrestling]] (WOW) promotion. She is best known for her time in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, where she went by the ring name AJ Lee[[note]]The surname was derived from Wendee Lee, a voice actress in her favorite anime, ''Anime/CowboyBebop''[[/note]].

Currently, Mendez is most known as an advocate for mental health awareness and animal welfare, as well as an accomplished writer. She released a memoir in 2017 titled ''Crazy Is My Superpower'' that went on to become a ''New York Times'' bestseller; the book covers her life from her turbulent youth to her time in WWE, shedding light on topics including her specific reasons for leaving WWE[[note]]permanent damage to her cervical spine and feeling that she had fulfilled all of her goals in the company[[/note]] and her lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder. She also found a writing partner in actress Creator/AimeeGarcia, with whom she has written two comic series based on ''Series/GLOW2017'' and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', started a production company titled Scrappy Heart Productions, and was selected to co-write ''Blade of the 47 Ronin'', the 2022 sequel to ''Film/FortySevenRonin''. On her own, she has also written a ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' comic and made the Black List's inaugural Latinx TV List with one of her scripts.

** Having a finisher of Japanese origin that involved striking an opponent with a knee (AJ initially used a Shining Wizard and Punk had the GTS, having also used the Shining Wizard himself earlier)

* FinishingMove: In the few matches she participated in and won early in her career, it was a variation of the Shining Wizard. From NXT onward it was a Christo, then after the diva's championship it was an Octopus hold set up in a manner akin to a Christo that she calls the "Black Widow."

* SexuallyTransmittedSuperpowers: Referenced during her feud with Wrestling/TheBellaTwins when she told them that "talent is not sexually transmitted". For context, Brie's couple is [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]], and Nikki's at the time was Wrestling/JohnCena.

* ActorAllusion: Her part in Madden: The Movie involves her [[spoiler: pulling a FaceHeelTurn, leaving her boyfriend for his evil rival, which hearkens back to 2012.]]

* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler: As Trish, the girlfriend in Madden: The Movie.]]

Post-WWE, Mendez dabbled in acting, appearing in a bizarre short film advertisement for ''[[VideoGame/MaddenNFL Madden]] NFL 2016'' titled ''Madden: The Movie''. She was also portrayed by wrestler/actress Wrestling/TheaTrinidad in the film ''Film/FightingWithMyFamily'', a BioPic of Paige.

April Jeanette Mendez[[note]]she has publicly gone under the surnames "Brooks" and "Mendez Brooks" in the past, but currently goes under her original surname[[/note]] (born March 19, 1987) is an American author and screenwriter, former professional wrestler, and current executive producer of the Women of Wrestling (WOW) promotion. She is best known for her time in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, where she went by the ring name AJ Lee[[note]]The surname was derived from Wendee Lee, a voice actress in her favorite anime, ''Anime/CowboyBebop''[[/note]].

After six years away from the wrestling industry, Mendez joined the [[Wrestling/WOWWomenOfWrestling Women of Wrestling ]](WOW) promotion as an executive producer in October 2021, where she provides color commentary. She further revealed in an interview the same month that she has "physically, mentally [and] emotionally" healed from her time in wrestling, and therefore could return to the ring. However, she also stated that she is in no rush to do so, as she is comfortable with having the next generation of wrestlers take the reins.

** This cruel prank, in turn, caused Bryan to lose his mind, which in turn led to him having to seek psychological group therapy along with Wrestling/{{Kane}}... which culminated in the two of them forming a comedic tag team called Wrestling/TeamHellNo that [[HeelFaceTurn turned both characters face again]]. This marked the beginning of Daniel Bryan's true rocket to stardom in WWE, making him so popular that not only did he go on to win the WWE Championship three times, but when he was respectively excluded from and (relatively) quickly eliminated in the 2014 and 2015 Wrestling/RoyalRumble matches, fan disillusionment ran so deep that the WWE Universe turned virulently on the men who did win those matches: Wrestling/{{Batista}} and Wrestling/RomanReigns. While Batista turned this situation into heel heat for what eventually led to Bryan's title win at ''[=WrestleMania=] 30'', Reigns never regained the adoration he had during his days with Wrestling/TheShield, [[XPacHeat is still heavily booed despite being a face]], and has had to acknowledge that fact within kayfabe. This rejection by the fans as a face eventually led Reigns to seek new counsel, and align with Wrestling/PaulHeyman, turning heel in the process, and recapture the Universal title, form the Bloodline, a faction with his real-life cousins, Wrestling/TheUsos, unify the Universal and WWE titles, and become the most dominant WWE champion since ''Wrestling/HulkHogan'', holding the time for over 1200 days.

** This cruel prank, in turn, caused Bryan to lose his mind, which in turn led to him having to seek psychological group therapy along with Wrestling/{{Kane}}... which culminated in the two of them forming a comedic tag team called Wrestling/TeamHellNo that [[HeelFaceTurn turned both characters face again]]. This marked the beginning of Daniel Bryan's true rocket to stardom in WWE, making him so popular that not only did he go on to win the WWE Championship three times, but when he was respectively excluded from and (relatively) quickly eliminated in the 2014 and 2015 Wrestling/RoyalRumble matches, fan disillusionment ran so deep that the WWE Universe turned virulently on the men who did win those matches: Wrestling/{{Batista}} and Wrestling/RomanReigns. While Batista turned this situation into heel heat for what eventually led to Bryan's title win at ''[=WrestleMania=] 30'', Reigns never regained the adoration he had during his days with Wrestling/TheShield, [[XPacHeat is still heavily booed despite being a face]], and has had to acknowledge that fact within kayfabe.

After six years away from the wrestling industry, Mendez joined the [[Wrestling/WOWWomenOfWrestling Women of Wrestling ]](WOW) promotion as an executive producer in October 2021, where she provides color commentary. She further revealed in an interview the same month that she has "physically, mentally [and] emotionally" healed from her time in wrestling, and theoretically could return to the ring. However, she also stated that she is in no rush to do so, as she is comfortable with having the next generation of wrestlers take the reins.

April Jeanette Brooks (née Mendez; born March 19, 1987) is an American author, former professional wrestler, and current executive producer of the Women of Wrestling (WOW) promotion. She is best known for her time in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, where she went by the ring name AJ Lee[[note]]The surname was derived from Wendee Lee, a voice actress in her favorite anime, ''Anime/CowboyBebop''[[/note]].

April Jeanette Brooks (née Mendez) (born March 19, 1987) is an American author, former professional wrestler, and current executive producer of the Women of Wrestling (WOW) promotion. She is best known for her time in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, where she went by the ring name AJ Lee[[note]]The surname was derived from Wendee Lee, a voice actress in her favorite anime, ''Anime/CowboyBebop''[[/note]].

April Jeanette Brooks (née Mendez) (born March 19, 1987) is an American author, former professional wrestler, and current executive producer of the Women of Wrestling (WOW) promotion. She is best known for her time in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, where she went by the ring name AJ Lee[[note]]The surname was derived from Wendee Lee, a voice actress for her favorite anime, ''Anime/CowboyBebop''[[/note]].

Currently, Mendez is most known as an advocate for mental health awareness and animal welfare, as well as an accomplished writer. She released a memoir in 2017 titled ''Crazy Is My Superpower'' that went on to become a ''New York Times'' bestseller; the book covers her life from her turbulent youth to her time in WWE, shedding light on topics including her specific reasons for leaving WWE[[note]]permanent damage to her cervical spine and feeling that she had fulfilled all of her goals in the company[[/note]] and her lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder. She also found a writing partner in actress Creator/AimeeGarcia, with whom she has written two comic series based on ''Series/GLOW2017'' and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', started a production company titled Scrappy Heart Productions, and was selected to co-write ''Blade of the 47 Ronin'', the sequel to ''Film/FortySevenRonin''. On her own, she has also written a ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' comic and made the Black List's inaugural Latinx TV List with one of her scripts.

After six years away from the wrestling industry, Mendez joined the [[Wrestling/WOWWomenOfWrestling Women of Wrestling ]](WOW) promotion as an executive producer in October 2021, where she provides color commentary. She further revealed in an interview that she has "physically, mentally [and] emotionally" healed from her time in wrestling, and theoretically could return to the ring. However, she also stated that she is in no rush to do so, as she is comfortable with having the next generation of wrestlers take the reins.

After six years away from the wrestling industry, Mendez joined the Women of Wrestling (WOW) promotion as an executive producer in October 2021, and will also provide color commentary for them beginning in late 2022. That same month, she further revealed in an interview that she has "physically, mentally [and] emotionally" healed from her time in wrestling, and theoretically could return to the ring. However, she also stated that she is in no rush to do so, as she is comfortable with having the next generation of wrestlers take the reins.

A self-professed nerd and tomboy, WWE adapted AJ's love of comics and video games to her on-screen character, endorsing her as different from the typical women in the WWE and promoting her as the "Geek Goddess". She became justly famous among wrestling buffs for defying the usual stereotypes of how WWE's Divas were supposed to behave, and she was named the "Diva of the Year" in the annual Slammy Awards twice (2012 and 2014).

Throughout most of 2012, while still a face, AJ portrayed a mentally unstable female character, the likes of which had not been seen in WWE since Wrestling/MickieJames in 2006. She also served as the {{Kayfabe}} General Manager of ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw Monday Night RAW]]''. She later became Divas Champion in June 2013 and lost the title to Wrestling/{{Paige}} in April 2014, leaving her as the longest-reigning Divas Champion in history at 295 days. [[http://pwinsider.com/article/85042/aj-leewwe-update-sting-on-wwe-network-more-warrior-material-filmed-batista-and-more.html After a three-month break]], she returned on June 30, 2014 and recaptured the Divas title by defeating Paige. After that, she lost it to Paige at ''Wrestling/SummerSlam'', regained it at ''Night of Champions'', and lost it to [[Wrestling/BellaTwins Nikki Bella]] at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries'', making her a three-time champion.

Post-WWE, Mendez dabbled in acting, appearing in a bizarre short film advertisement for ''[[VideoGame/MaddenNFL Madden]] NFL 2016'' titled ''Madden: The Movie''. She was also portrayed by wrestler/actress Wrestling/TheaTrinidad in the film ''Film/FightingWithMyFamily'', a BioPic of Wrestling/{{Paige}}.

April Jeanette Brooks (née Mendez) (born March 19, 1987) is an American author, former professional wrestler, and current executive producer of the Women of Wrestling (WOW) promotion. She is best known for her time in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, where she went by the ring name AJ Lee[[note]]the surname was derived from Wendee Lee, a voice actress for her favorite anime, ''Anime/CowboyBebop''[[/note]].

* BareYourMidriff: By way of small t-shirts as opposed to the usual sports bra combo that most of the Divas went for.

Currently, Mendez is most known as an advocate for mental health awareness and animal welfare, as well as an accomplished writer. She released a memoir in 2017 titled ''Crazy Is My Superpower'' that went on to become a ''New York Times'' bestseller; the book covers her life from her turbulent youth to her time in WWE, shedding light on topics including her specific reasons for leaving WWE[[note]]permanent damage to her cervical spine and feeling that she had fulfilled all of her goals in the company[[/note]] and her lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder. She also found a writing partner in actress Creator/AimeeGarcia, with whom she has written two comic series based on ''Series/GLOW2017'' and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', started a production company titled Scrappy Heart Productions, and was selected to co-write an upcoming sequel to ''Film/FortySevenRonin''. On her own, she has also written a ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' comic and made the Black List's inaugural Latinx TV List with one of her scripts.

April Jeanette Mendez (born March 19, 1987) is an American author, former professional wrestler, and current executive producer of the Women of Wrestling (WOW) promotion. She is best known for her time in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, where she went by the ring name AJ Lee[[note]]the surname was derived from Wendee Lee, a voice actress for her favorite anime, ''Anime/CowboyBebop''[[/note]].

* ArmorPiercingSlap: AJ to Kaitlyn, when the latter told her to get over the fact [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] used her.

* AmbiguousDisorder: She's definitely got ''something'', but exactly what is hard to pinpoint. Given her wide range of symptoms, though, it's likely that she has more than one disorder, most probably a mood disorder and/or a personality disorder.
** She fits most of the criteria for Histrionic Personality Disorder, and more than a few of the criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder.
** In her book "Crazy Is My Superpower", she reveals that the character was inspired by her real life bipolar disorder.

%% GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you're reading this in the future, please check the trope description to make sure your example matches the current criteria.