Former three-time WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee (Mendez) is having her autobiography “Crazy is my Superpower” developed to air on A&E. The autobiography was written in 2017 and has gone on to become a New York Times Best Seller. Since then, it had been mentioned that it would turn into a show. Since then, not … Read more
Not that we expect Roxanne Perez to retire anytime soon, but the two-time NXT Women’s Champion wants a match with mother. Perez spoke with Ring the Belle’s DS Shin prior to Stand & Deliver where they talked about her comparisons to AJ Lee. Both her and Cora Jade have made it no secret to what … Read more
Since CM Punk’s return to WWE, there has been more hope by fans that we may see a return of former Divas Champion AJ Lee. Unless this is an April Fools joke, Punk is now stating that will likely not happen. In a new interview that is on-going at the time of this writing, Punk … Read more
Let’s Light it Up! Unless you have been living under a rock, everyone knows that CM Punk has returned to WWE. He did so at Survivor Series, but closed out the Nov. 27 Raw with a promo. In the promo, he stated that people were asking how his wife was, former three-time Divas Champion, AJ … Read more
Season Two of the hit show Heels on STARZ is finally coming out on July 28. The first season, which premiered in 2021, had CM Punk as Ricky Rabies with his valet Vicky Rabies played by actress Bonnie Somerville. Now AJ Lee is joining the cast as wrestler Elle Dorado. Season One is available to … Read more
Somehow, 2015 is eight years ago already and on March 2 of that year, there was a Divas Championship match on Raw. It was Paige challenging Nikki Bella for the title. Paige was attempting to become a three-time women’s champion as Nikki was on the road to becoming the longest reigning Divas Champion. The crowd … Read more
Former three-time WWE Divas Champion AJ Mendez (Lee) recently sat down with Renee Paquette in an interview for Paquette’s podcast “The Sessions.”
In this interview, Mendez first talks about her returning to the wrestling industry as a producer for the upcoming relaunch of Women of Wrestling (WOW). She talks about being an author, mental health advocate, and much more.
The two talk about an upcoming movie that Mendez co-wrote the screenplay for which is titled Blade of the 47 Ronin (a sequel to the 2013 film 47 Ronin). After discussing the premise of the film, Paquette asked Mendez how much her wrestling career helped her now in her writing career.
“So much, there’s so many transferable skills. I remember I was very fortunate that I was given a lot of trust with my promos and I think that started from the angle I had with Kaitlyn, and Tom Casiello was the writer. He was very much collaborative. We would put promos together as this group.
I remember this really big promo where I was revealed as her (Kaitlyn) secret admirer. I wrote a first draft of it and sent it to Tom and then Tom gave it to Stephanie McMahon and then she did edits on it and we sat down and practiced it and I added these edits in. It was so cool to see that she had a lot of writing experience. So it was this mentorship for the whole arc with me and Tom and then the one particular promo with me and Stephanie. I was given so much freedom. This is every insane thing I want to say, can we do this? They just let me do my whole promo. That feeling of, ‘I wrote this,’ and you let me put it on TV. And perform it.”
She continues, “We were terrified because this was a time when women didn’t get to talk, ever. So I remember we were shitting our pants because we were like they are just going to do the Austin ‘What’ chant the whole time. We had a game plan on what to do and Stephanie was just like talk over it. We all thought it was going to happen and it didn’t. They were listening to us talk. That’s when I was like, oh, I know how to get people’s attention. From there they trusted me to write my own promos.”
Mendez goes on to talk about her infamous pipebomb promo as one of her favorites.
For the full interview, you can check it out below.
Former three-time WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee (Mendez) will be on an upcoming episode of Renee Paquette’s The Session podcast. Paquette posted on her social media yesterday that she was heading to do an interview and asked in a post if anyone had any guesses. A few hours later, she posted a photo of her … Read more
Taking it back to Hell in a Cell in 2013, the Divas Championship was on the line as the champion Aj Lee battled Brie Bella. Both women didn’t come alone to the ring as Brie had her sister Nikki Bella and Lee had Tamina in her corner. Both would have involvement at the end of … Read more
Women of Wrestling (WOW) is on its way back! The all-female organization known for its talent as Superheros has landed a multi-year deal with ViacomCBS. WOW recently had a deal with AXS TV which is the home of IMPACT, which ended in June 2020. The promotion was originally founded in 2000 by David McLane who … Read more
AJ Lee’s name has come up a lot recently, especially regarding AEW. Lee’s husband CM Punk made his return to wrestling after a seven-year hiatus, which left fans asking if her comeback was also on the cards. Lee reacted to Punk’s emphatic comeback soon after she began trending Twitter too. Fans flooded the social media … Read more
Like the majority of the wrestling world, AJ Lee watched in amazement at CM Punk’s emphatic AEW debut. A jam-packed United Center became unglued when Punk made his first appearance for a wrestling company in nearly eight years. Since then the wrestling world is buzzing that the “voice of the voiceless” is back. But wrestling … Read more
Women in the ring have been a huge part of people’s lives for at least 80 years. Over those 80 years, we remember a wide variety of women in various promotions who can call themselves ”Champion” since the days of Mildred Burke. Women used to be an aspect of the show, now in many cases, … Read more
The Money in the Bank Ladder Match didn’t start being an option for the ladies of WWE until 2017. The event has been a constant since 2010 which means there were plenty of women’s matches outside the MITB match itself. Many of those matches were for the Divas Championship. We all remember what has happened … Read more
WWE’s first openly gay signee Jake Atlas recently sat down with DS Shin from Ring the Belle to divulge his top five women that have inspired him. Atlas recently made his debut on NXT in a losing effort to Dexter Lumis. Just like most gay men growing up, Atlas idolized the women of WWE through admiration and intrigue. He spoke to Shin about how it was the women of the company that inspired him to become the wrestler that he is today.
Generally from a young boy you would hear them say idols such as The Rock, The Undertaker, and Stone Cold influenced them to want to become a wrestler. For Atlas, and many gay youth, this was quite the contrary.
Let’s go through Atlas’ top five and see if these women were ever inspirations to you.
5. Maryse
Credit: WWE
Atlas starts off his list with the French Kiss herself, Maryse. Maryse was definitely a powerful heel during her mainstay with the company. He praised the fact that she came in green without wrestling experience and turned herself into not just a Diva but an in-ring presence. She also came into this without knowing English very well. Atlas explains how when he has been a heel character, Maryse’s portrayal is one he admired.
“I’ve always been a fan of heels. I’ve always been about the bad girls, the mean girls. It just looks so effortless for her. So sometimes whenever I have done a heel character I have done the hand gesture, like get out of my face, and it has always been a tribute to her.”
4. Gail Kim
Credit: TNA/IMPACT Wrestling
Atlas believes that Gail Kim is one of the best women’s wrestlers to exist. He mentions her move to TNA and is glad they were able to show why she is one of the best.
“I’m glad that TNA gave her the platform to acknowledge that she is one of the best. Her match with Tessa Blanchard was phenomenal. You know, I think I saw this on Twitter. Gail Kim vs. Tessa Blanchard was what Trish and Charlotte was for WWE at SummerSlam. That’s just generational. Gail Kim was ahead of her time, she was so good, I enjoyed her work at WWE. It was really awesome to just see her win the Women’s Title in her debut, because she is just so good,”
3. Sasha Banks
Credit: WWE
Atlas attributes Sasha for his psychological aspect of wrestling. Her sayings and thought process behind the art of wrestling is what he admires from her. He has adapted this into his own career and his own way of thinking about loving what he does.
“Again, just the heel character in her is what really drew me to her, but more than anything, she is just so passionate about this…..The one line I always say when I am about to go through the curtain is ‘I was born to do this.’ And maybe other people have said this in the past, but I got it from Sasha.”
“Another quote that she says is ‘be so good that they can’t ignore you.’ And that can’t be anymore truer for her. Mentally she is just so good at wrestling and you see that through her matches. Through the psychology of what she does. The Sasha and Bayley match, one of the best matches I have ever seen.
2. Aj Lee
Credit: WWE
Aj Lee is one female wrestler that Atlas believes was relatable to him. Through her advocacy on mental health and from her passion she showed for wrestling. He talks about her book and how she was meant to do this. He also recalls her FCW days and how he enjoyed her matches with Naomi.
“I remember at Payback when she won the Divas Title and when the referee handed her the belt, you could just see her face as she is receiving the belt. This was her moment. This was her crowning moment. Her whole life’s work into finally winning the top championship of WWE. I just connected to her from her FCW days when she would have the matches with Naomi, they would kill it.”
1.Trish Stratus
Credit: WWE
Let’s be honest, Trish Stratus was an idol for many people. She predominately was an idol for all of the gay youth growing up, myself included. She was also that way for Atlas. He recalls the story of not being able to see her main event match on RAW against Lita when it took place because he was punished by his mother. He recalls a funny story of how he blamed his mother for Trish losing the title that night.
He had the following to say on why she means so much to him:
“I remember before I came out, I would always say she was my girlfriend and that I would marry her one day. I just wanted to be her. She is the best of all time I think of the women. When it comes to the overall package. She had it. She was a superstar. She was the standard of what you needed to be.”
“She just made me feel everything about pro wrestling. She made me feel it all. She made me cry, I cried at her retirement match. I cried in her return, I cried for the Trish and Charlotte match. This was my person, my go to wrestler. You made me feel this about wrestling.”
Voices like Atlas’ are good for the community. Him speaking on his top five women’s wrestlers who have inspired him to do what he does is inspiring of itself. The women that we have grown to idolize whether it is in WWE or any other organization means a lot to those who feel as though they don’t have a voice.
What did you think of his list? Do you share any of the same women? Who makes your top five? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
Thank you to Ring the Belle for this exclusive content.
Hello readers, it’s Mykel, Diva-Dirt’s equivalent of Asia O’Hara on Fashion Photo Ruview! It’s WrestleMania weekend! We have been prior list ranking the Women’s Title matches at WrestleMania, so I thought ”Hey, why not tag matches too?” We will only look at the women’s parts here because we are all about the women here on … Read more
When it comes to the Show of Shows and undefeated streaks, we think of The Undertaker. However, there are women who have also developed a streak of their own. This is a short list, but we’re going to look at the women in WWE history who won all of their two or more Wrestlemania matches.
Hello, it’s Mykel, and I’m back with yet another list! With Wrestlemania around the corner, I decided to sit and watch every single WWE Women’s Title match and rank them out on a scale of 1 to 10, worst to best. Which match was the best? Let’s find out!
We are very close to what will go down as the strangest and most unprecedented WrestleMania in history. The global outbreak of Coronavirus has literally put the world on lockdown with all sporting events and mass gatherings either postponed or canceled. The NBA, NFL, and NHL are all postponed until further notice, the XFL has … Read more
Once upon a time, not long ago, the 2010s just started, NXT had its first all women’s season, Laycool dominated the WWE, TNA had their infamous Lockbox 8 woman elimination tag. We saw old faces return to wrestling; Trish, Lita, Chyna, Traci Brooks. We lost Chyna and Mae Young, had Snooki Mania, witnessed the first … Read more
Everyone loves a great return right? Especially when that return is one of your favorites. That feeling you get when their music hits for the first time in months (or longer) is what makes being a wrestling fan so great. Lately, with social media becoming the norm, it is harder for returns to be kept … Read more
Since WWE Backstage has premiered on FS1, Paige has been a constant panelist. On this week’s show, she commented on the day she made her main roster debut on RAW. Her debut happened on the night after WrestleMania XXX in 2014.
On that night, the current Divas Champion Aj Lee was present in the ring glowing after defeating 13 other women in the Vickie Guerrero Invitational to retain her title.
Paige, who was the current NXT Women’s Champion, made her way to the ring to provide a genuine congratulations to Lee. Lee wasn’t having it and didn’t like being interrupted.
After Lee delivered a slap to Paige she challenged her to an impromptu Divas Championship match. Paige would win the title in her short debut by countering out of the Black Widow submission and delivering her Paige Turner finisher.
Credit:WWE
On WWE Backstage, Paige explained that she didn’t know she was going to be winning the title until the doors for the show were opening. She states they wanted to keep it a secret.
She comments on how calm Lee was about what was going to take place. Paige makes her entrance, cuts her promo, and wins the title and it worked that simply. This ended Lee’s 295-day longest reign in the title’s history which stayed on record until Nikki Bella surpassed it with 301-days.
Credit: WWE
Paige would continue her feud with Lee for months throughout 2014 while passing the title back and forth for her second reign and Lee’s third.
Where does this moment rank for you in best debuts on the main roster for the women’s roster? Were you a fan of the Paige and Aj Lee feud? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
WWE’s next pay-per-view is Sunday and with the Clash of Champions theme, all titles are on the line. All three women’s titles are officially set for the card. We have the much anticipated RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending her title against the recently returning Sasha Banks. The SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley will attempt to … Read more
WWE has decided to put together a Top 10 list of who they think are the best “good women” who have “gone bad.”
This topic was sparked with the recent events of last week where Bayley seemingly turned on Becky Lynch. We witnessed her siding with her best friend Sasha Banks with a steel chair attack on the RAW Women’s Champion. They would continue their attack on SmackDown, but this time Charlotte Flair would be the victim.
Bayley’s full heel turn remains to be seen as she stated that she is the same person but just having her best friends back. Someone who has always been there for her. The reactions to her “turn” have been mixed.
WWE’s list comprises many women from a few different eras. Let’s see what they have picked
10. Lita betrays Kane
9. Aj Lee costs Cena
8. Becky pummels Charlotte
7. Eve low-blows Ryder
6. Trish kisses Christian
5. Ronda says no more
4. Mickie kicks Trish
3. Sasha’s new attitude
2. Nikki knocks out Brie
1.Bayley gone bad
Who would you put on your list? Discuss your thoughts in the comment section!!
AJ Mendez (Lee) will continue to keep herself busy as a writer as her next task is writing for a comic book. With the hit series GLOW releasing its third season debuting on Netflix recently, a return for the comic is not far behind. Slated for a fall release, Aj will be teaming up with … Read more
Every fan of women’s wrestling has seen their favourite come and go. At times, it could be due to injury, retirement, or creative having nothing to do with them and they need some reinvention. This list, however, looks at the best returns I have seen and mostly enjoyed during my years of watching wrestling. The … Read more
