After spending just two years on the independent circuit, AJ Lee was signed to WWE Developmental, then FCW in 2009 for another two years before heading up the WWE main roster and taking not just The Divas Division, but the entire WWE roster by storm. As an alt-punk-rock girl, she certainly struck a nerve with that section of the audience. She somehow managed to worm her way into several top storylines - not bad for a girl that one of the WWE upper management once claimed something to the effect of no one would want to sleep with and that's problematic.
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But it also helped her defy all the odds, and company brass, that felt she wasn’t Diva material and wouldn’t succeed in the ring. It wasn’t before long that the mentally unstable AJ became the most popular Diva on the roster and one of the most popular WWE superstars overall. Even now years after her retirement from the ring, she is one of the most sought-after stars to hopefully make a comeback. Whether she does or not remains to be seen, but she does have a life outside the ring, both before and after her stint in WWE.
7 She Was Homeless
While it has been a long time since AJ Lee and her family lived from meal to meal, let alone not knowing where they would sleep, the experience certainly weighed heavily on young AJ’s heart.
The family struggled and lived in hotels and apartments - even their car when they could not afford to make rent payments. Lee has said that experience helped her stay motivated and focus on breaking away from that life to become successful and never go back to the streets.
6 Trained By Jay Lethal
Jay Lethal might be one of the biggest names in this current era to have never stepped foot in a WWE ring. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t left his mark on the industry and the company as a whole. Besides being influential in both TNA and ROH, the current AEW star also was responsible for training AJ Lee.
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For a brief time, their training went slightly beyond teacher-student. Perhaps that would make for a good underpinning of a CM Punk/Jay Lethal feud should Punk get over his toxicities one day and return to AEW, which considering several tirades isn't going to happen anytime soon.
5 Comic Book, Hollywood, And Best Selling Writer
In her time away from WWE, everyone’s favorite “crazy chick” flexed her writing muscles in a variety of big ways. Most notable, on the grandest stage, was her autobiography, Crazy Is My Superpower.
She also has written several comics, including a Wonder Woman story, and along with her writing partner Aimee Garcia wrote a GLOW Mini-Series for IDW comics. Most recently, they collaborated on the Netflix film, Blade Of The 47 Ronin. She also showed up in a 2019 horror flick, Rabid playing a girl named Kira in the David Cronenberg remake.
4 WOW Producer
When her husband returned to the wrestling world from self-imposed exile in late 2021, fans grew hopeful that AJ Lee’s return would be imminent as well.
They’d get what they had been clamoring for but in a much different capacity. Lee signed with the WOW Promotion to be a producer and color commentator for their weekly television series.
3 Quit College
One of the byproducts of having to live in and live through poverty is that some sacrifices need to be made. For AJ Lee that meant having to give up her academic career.
RELATED: 7 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About AJ Lee
She had been attending the New York University Tisch School For The Arts when she had to drop out. Family and financial decisions are what forced her to drop out. Clearly, thanks to her success in WWE, she was still able to get a few gigs within the art world that are detailed elsewhere on this list.
2 Bi-Polar Spokesperson
While CM Punk famously said to her, “I dig crazy chicks,” and they would end up together in real life, AJ Lee really did grow up with and struggles with depression. She was diagnosed with Bi-Polar disorder. Growing up, she did thankfully survive a suicide attempt during her teens.
The experience and her lifelong struggles with them have prompted her over the years to be an advocate for groups like The Jed Foundation, which protects emotional health and helps to prevent suicide in teenagers. She also is an ambassador for NAMI - the National Alliance On Mental Illness.
1 Besties With Kaitlyn And Big E
While they did meet in the WWE, the friendship between AJ and fellow former WWE Diva, Kaitlyn as well as her relationship with The Powerhouse Of Positivity, Big E extends far beyond the boundaries of the ring.
It is actually easy to see how all three are great friends. In each of their own ways, they are all very adept at being silly, wrestling super fans, good in the ring, and dedicated to physical and mental fitness.
