AJ Lee spoke with IGN.com to promote WrestleMania 29. Here are some
highlights:
IGN TV: I was at WrestleMania last
year, and I feel like things were already on the rise for you, but I think that
that was the starting point for so much that followed. What’s it like for you
to be back at WrestleMania a year later with so much having changed?
AJ Lee: It’s insane. Like you were
saying, last year, honestly, everything that had happened to that point was
kind of the be-all, end-all for me. I was like, “This is so amazing. This
wasn’t supposed to happen.” Everything kind of happened by accident. I was so
appreciative. I was like, “Cool, it’s ending at Mania. What a cool way to go
out! I’ll go back to Superstars and have fun.” And Superstars was fun anyway —
I’d do it right now. But I’m always mentally prepared for everything to end,
and I was then. I was like, “Wow, this is so amazing. I’m so happy I got this
opportunity.” Then another door opened, and then it closed. I thought, “Wow,
that was awesome! All right, let’s see what happens.” And it just keeps going,
and that’s probably the coolest thing for me, and I think that if at any second
everything were to end, I would be so happy because I’d done pretty much
everything I came to do, and then some. I feel super complete. I’m really lucky
to be a year and a half into my official career and to feel complete, like I’ve
done everything that I need to, so now everything’s kind of gravy. I’m just
fighting for longevity, I guess.
IGN: You and Kaitlyn have had a long
friendship. Has it been fun for you with how things have gone with the two of
you lately?
AJ: Oh my God, there’s nothing like
punching your friend in the face! You can’t punch anyone else in the face as
hard as you can your best friend. But it’s been insane, because two or three
years ago I had Kaitlyn’s tryout — I’m kind of like the tryout girl. There have
been a lot of people who have come in and gotten signed and I like to believe I
helped and that I was the gateway. So she’s kind of my proudest project. I feel
like her momma. I’m momma Diva for her. I helped her learn how to bump. Her
first steps were with me, and her first match was with me, and her tryout was
with me. Then to go through NXT together, we needed each other. It was like
war. You need your buddy to get through that. We helped each other develop our
on-screen characters and be comfortable with just being idiots. If you can do a
robot handshake on camera, you can do anything. You just kind of have to have
that ballsiness. We wouldn’t have done that without each other. So I started to
get to do stuff, and that was amazing. She was so happy for me, and we did a
little bit of stuff, some tag-team, before that. Then it was kind of
bittersweet not to have her along for the ride. So when she got to do all that
with Eve and get the title, it was so gratifying to see where we were and what
scrubs we were before. “Look at us now!” You could not have two girls that are
less of the Diva mold. We’re just dudes, and we joke like dudes. It’s so funny
that now we’re the girls. That’s weird. [Laughs] But I can’t wait to beat her
up, you know? One of these days!
IGN: You recently had a match
against Kaitlyn. Might we see you back in the ring a little bit more going
forward?
AJ: Gosh, I don’t know. I really
love managing. When I was younger, I thought it would be so cool to be in this
super badass group, and just kind of be the chick on the sidelines. And I
appreciate that, and I think there’s a lot of value in that. I love that I get
to get in the ring every now and then. I could not have a better mix of things
for me. If I could get in the ring with anyone, it would be her. I’m dying for
that. I think we could tear the roof off the place and just beat the crap out
of each other. We have so much unfinished business, and there’s not a lot of
females that have that kind of storytelling behind them. The story sort of
writes itself, and I think people have figured that out and are kind of waiting
for it, so that’s cool. Maybe we can keep them waiting; it’s all right.
