April Jeanette "AJ" Mendez Brooks (born April Jeanette Mendez; March 19, 1987), better known by her ring name AJ Lee, is an American retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her time in WWE.
Mendez began her professional wrestling career on the New Jersey independent circuit in 2007, where she performed as Miss April, notably in Women Superstars Uncensored. She signed with WWE in 2009 and spent two years in its developmental system, Florida Championship Wrestling, before she was called up to the main roster. Meanwhile, she took part in season three of NXT in 2010 and placed third in the competition.
In 2012, Mendez rose to prominence through several storylines, such as relationships with wrestlers who feuded over WWE's world championships, along with a three-month stint as the General Manager of Raw. In subsequent years, she won the Divas Championship three times and held the title for an overall record of 406 days, including a 295 day reign the longest in history. She also won the Diva of the Year Slammy Award twice (2012 and 2014), and was voted Woman of the Year by readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated for an unprecedented three consecutive years (2012–2014). She retired from in-ring competition in 2015. She along with husband CM Punk were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016.
In Wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Black Widow (Octopus hold)
- Shining Wizard
- Shiranui, sometimes while standing
- Signature moves
- Diving crossbody
- Front dropkick
- Guillotine choke with body scissors
- Hurricanrana, sometimes to an oncoming opponent
- Sleeper hold with body scissors
- Spin kick
- Swinging neckbreaker, sometimes back-to-back
- Tilt-a-whirl headscissors takedown
- Tornado DDT
- Managers
- Wrestlers managed
- Nicknames
- "Black Widow"
- "Crazy Chick"
- "Geek Goddess"
- Entrance themes
- "Right Now" by Tyler Van Den Berg (2011)
- "Let's Light It Up" by Jim Johnston featuring Kari Kimmel (October 26, 2011 – March 30, 2015)
Championships and Accomplishments[]
- Florida Championship Wrestling
- FCW Divas Championship (1 time)
- Queen of FCW (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Woman of the Year (2012–2014)
- Ranked No. 2 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2014
- Women Superstars Uncensored
- WSU Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brooke Carter
- WSU/NWS King and Queen of the Ring (2009) – with Jay Lethal
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Worst Worked Match of the Year (2013) 14-woman elimination tag team match on November 24
- WWE
- WWE Divas Championship (3 times)
- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2016)
- Slammy Award (2 times)
- Diva of the Year (2012)
- Kiss of the Year (2012) – with John Cena
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