AJ Mendez Opens Up About Her Relationship With Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon has been known to be quite the polarizing figure, with some loathing him and some adoring him, but AJ Mendez, who went by AJ Lee when she was racking up reigns with the WWE Divas Championship, only has positive things to say.
During an appearance on "The Sessions with Renee Paquette", Mendez spoke about her relationship with the Chairman of the WWE, and how he reacted when she informed him she wanted to move on from wrestling.
"He was very kind," Mendez said. "He was just like, 'The door is always open if you want to come back,' and that to me was — I don't know, I know it's different for some people, but to me, it was so important to go out on top, on my own terms."
Mendez enjoyed great success during her six-year run in WWE, tallying up three WWE Divas Championship reigns, the first of which lasted 295 days, a record at the time (it was broken by Nikki Bella following Mendez' departure). In 2015, having achieved everything she wanted from wrestling and dealing with lingering injuries, Mendez left WWE and retired after the "Monday Night Raw" that followed WrestleMania 31. She hasn't wrestled since.
When discussing McMahon, Mendez focused on her promo work, which McMahon would frequently help her craft. While her husband, CM Punk, delivered the now-infamous promo known as the "Pipebomb" in 2011, in which he aired many of his grievances on-screen and eventually had the microphone turned off by production, Mendez dropped a pipebomb of her own in 2013, when she eviscerated the cast of "Total Divas" in one of the most memorable promos ever cut in WWE by a female performer.
"The 'PipeBombshell,' that was named by my husband, I loved that one" Mendez said. "I remember I got like, bullet points from Vince. Like that was our thing. He would give me bullet points and then just trust me. I remember I came to the back and he gave me a kiss on the cheek and he said, 'Great job.'"
Mendez has been doing commentary for WOW recently, but seemingly will not step in the ring for the organization.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit The Sessions with Renee Paquette with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.