WWE witnessed AJ Lee becoming one of the most successful women in company history through a rather short run. Lee played both the face and heel roles, but her greatest success came as a heel. WWE pushed AJ in various roles from the top star in the women’s division to romantic angles to an authority figure position.
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There were various actions from Lee that crossed the line even for a heel in wrestling. AJ received strong heel heat by doing things that either were dastardly heel acts or just downright cruel within her storyline. WWE gave Lee the freedom to play an effective heel more than the average member of the women’s division. When looking at Lee's role as a villain, 10 awful deeds stand out as being the worst in AJ's wrestling career.
10 Pushing Over John Cena On Ladder To Help Dolph Ziggler
The short-lived romance between John Cena and AJ Lee saw her working with an even bigger name than previous love interests like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Fans had a polarizing reaction to Cena and Lee together, but it felt like a high-profile romance.
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Lee however set up Cena with the end game coming in the form of a heel turn. Cena facing off with Dolph Ziggler after Ziggler insulted Lee provided a shocking ending. AJ pushed Cena off the ladder during a ladder match to cost him the match and help Dolph cheat him out of victory.
9 Pushing Both CM Punk & Daniel Bryan Through Tables
AJ Lee became the main part of the storyline involving Daniel Bryan and CM Punk. Even though Punk was defending the WWE Championship against Bryan, WWE told the story of a love triangle gone wrong as the biggest angle.
One of the most memorable moments of the feud featured Punk and Bryan battling on the top rope and Lee shoving them both through a table outside of the ring. AJ started to show a more violent side in between her romantic angles and move to the women’s division.
8 Involving Kane In Romantic Angle For No Reason
Kane somehow joined the love triangle storyline between CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and AJ Lee by developing feelings for Lee. WWE wanted to extend the feud by adding Kane to the story for a triple threat WWE Championship match.
AJ seemed to use Kane’s feelings to get him to further inflict violence on her former lovers given his monster gimmick. There were segments involving Lee kissing Kane and even wearing his mask before putting him in the past after the title match.
7 Attacking Friends For Warning Her About Daniel Bryan
Kaitlyn and Natalya were the on-screen friends of AJ Lee during her first few months on the main roster. WWE had Lee and Kaitlyn teaming with Natalya as their mentor before AJ moved into a bigger storyline as the love interest of World Champion Daniel Bryan.
The verbally abusive tactics from Bryan made him a clear bad boyfriend during his heel turn in the main event picture. Natalya and Kaitlyn were dismissed by Lee for trying to warn her, and they were even attacked during her breakdown segments that channeled her own character change.
6 Faking Friendship With Paige
AJ Lee had one of her most memorable rivalries when feuding with Paige for the Divas Championship. Paige ending Lee’s record-breaking title reign in her debut seemed like the makings of creating a new top face for the division.
However, AJ returning from a break after the loss featured her instantly getting her title back from Paige. The two engaged in a long storyline of them faking a friendship in between turning on each other. Lee was the one to start the mind games causing Paige to snap along the way.
5 Pipe Bombshell Promo Shaming Divas Division
The infamous promo most fans associate first with AJ Lee was referred to as the pipe bombshell, shades of CM Punk’s pipe bomb promo. Lee verbally berated the entire division of Total Divas reality show cast members for various reasons.
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The Bella Twins were mocked for having relationships with male wrestlers as AJ made a rude sexual comment. Most of those lines would be received worse today with Lee essentially shaming the other women for their love lives and reality show projects.
4 Convincing Big E To Turn On Dolph Ziggler
Many fans would argue that AJ Lee’s best romantic angle was the one with Dolph Ziggler since it featured her also taking over the women’s division. Lee however remained a heel when Ziggler started to show face tendencies after beating Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Dolph lost a title match to Del Rio due to AJ interfering and getting him disqualified. The aftermath saw Ziggler wanting to go their separate ways and end the relationship. Lee responded by orchestrating their mutual enforcer Big E to turn on him with a couple of vicious beatdowns.
3 Leaving Daniel Bryan At The Altar
WWE is known for having scandalous wedding segments with the hopes of creating a ratings pop. AJ Lee had one of the more memorable weddings of the past 15 years with Daniel Bryan. WWE booked the wedding after both did terrible things to each other, but Bryan was the worst of the two.
Lee however wanted to reunite with him after they had their big storyline involving CM Punk and Kane. The big payoff of the wedding saw AJ leaving Bryan at the altar in exchange for a role as the Raw General Manager.
2 Abusing Power As General Manager For Revenge
WWE wanted to strike when the iron was hot by having AJ Lee become the Raw General Manager after her storylines with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Both wrestlers were punished quite often with Lee abusing her power for revenge.
The story was designed to write AJ off eventually to add layers to her character. WWE’s board of directors in character removed Lee from the position due to her immature actions and petty drama. This helped make AJ more of a heel for her stronger character success in dating Dolph Ziggler and dominating the women’s division.
1 Tricking Kaitlyn Into Thinking She Had A Secret Admirer
The friendship between AJ Lee and Kaitlyn was one of the most important storylines for Lee’s career. WWE told that story when having AJ return to the women’s division to challenge her former best friend Kaitlyn for the Divas Championship.
However, it wasn’t enough for Lee to face Kaitlyn as she set up a cruel reveal. Kaitlyn received love letters from a secret admirer for months with the payoff of it being Big E doing AJ’s bidding. The segment unveiling everything left Kaitlyn heartbroken due to her former best friend.
