AJ Lee snapped on Friday’s SmackDown, taking out her relationship frustrations Natalya and leaving the Canadian Diva bloodied. Natalya tweeted the following about the situation:
“I get it. @WWEAJLEE treated me the way she “wanted” to treat Daniel Bryan. I just never expected it from her.”
“What I do know @WWEAJLEE, is that no matter how many punches to the face I receive, you can be sure I’m going to rise from the ashes.”
“It’s people like @WWEAJLEE who make me realize what I am truly made of. I’ve faced so much adversity In my life, but it has made me stronger”
Check out this video of AJ & Natalya’s match from SmackDown:
— Edge is advertised to host the Cutting Edge with World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton and Mark Henry on this week’s episode of SmackDown. The episode is being taped tomorrow at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
— Rosa Mendes posted several messages on Twitter over the weekend disparaging the ‘Rookie Divas’ of WWE, writing: “Awwwww u guys are mad @ me. You love AJ because she looks ordinary just like you. Divas are not suppose to look ordinary. If i’m making people upset, I don’t really care. I’m sick of seeing the Divas division ruined by these rookies. Sexy, smart, powerful! Stay in FCW and stop shopping at Target chicas! One rookie looks 12 with a crater face, one looks like she is 40 and the other one looks like she needs to go on Jenny Craig. You know who you are! Lol”
Mendes revealed who she has problems with this afternoon: “Just so everyone is clear the rookies are AJ, Kaitlyn, Aksana and Maxine. You know the new girl on NXT, with the huge overbite. Lol.”
— The 2011 SummerSlam pay-per-view broadcast is now available on iTunes.
SHIMMER Champion Madison Eagles has earned the number one position in Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s fourth annual “PWI Female 50” list, which ranks the top 50 women’s wrestlers in North America from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. She succeeds Michelle McCool, who ranked No. 1 in last year’s list.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated attributes their decision to ranking Eagles as the top women’s wrestler in North America with the following: “This year’s list was unlike any other in the four-year history of the “Female 50.” For one thing, there was no obvious frontrunner in either WWE or TNA. Last year’s number one, Michelle McCool, retired after a few lackluster months. The WWE Divas title dropped in prominence and was held for a significant amount of time by Brie Bella who, while improved, doesn’t exactly conjure thoughts of Sensational Sherri or Trish Stratus.”
Mickie James and Madison Rayne were also considered for the top spot, but for a variety of reasons, were ultimately deemed not worthy.
“So we made a bold decision. We looked to the indies. Two possible candidates were SHIMMER champion Madison Eagles and WSU champion Mercedes Martinez. It was a difficult choice to make,” the magazine explains. “Fortunately for us, Martinez and Eagles faced off in March for Eagles’ SHIMMER title. Eagles managed to win a terrific match, which proved to be the deciding factor in our decision.”
PWI also explains how the “Female 50” was determined: “To determine this list, we evaluated each woman’s innate wrestling ability, accomplishments during the past year, physical strength and conditioning, quality of opposition, charisma, and title success.”
Some women’s wrestlers contracted to WWE and TNA, such as Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes, Tamina and Brooke Tessmacher, were left off the “Female 50” because PWI felt they did not earn a spot over some of the independent talent listed. The magazine explains, “While being on WWE’s or TNA’s global platform helps your chances, it doesn’t mean you get a free passage onto the “Female 50.”
1. Madison Eagles
2. Mercedes Martinez
3. Mickie James
4. Natalya
5. Madison Rayne
6. Cheerleader Melissa
7. Beth Phoenix
8. Tara
9. MsChif
10. Sara Del Rey
11. Eve Torres
12. Angelina Love
13. Layla
14. Sarita
15. Kelly Kelly
16. Serena Deeb
17. Velvet Sky
18. Ayako Hamada
19. LuFisto
20. Winter
21. Brie Bella
22. Angel Orsini
23. Melina
24. Daizee Haze
25. Nikki Roxx
26. Gail Kim
27. Jazz
28. Maryse
29. Christina Von Eerie
30. Portia Perez
31. Rosita
32. ODB
33. Nicole Matthews
34. Rachel Summerlyn
35. Jessicka Havok
36. Brittany Force
37. Kellie Skater
38. Tina San Antonio
39. Melanie Cruise
40. Cherry Bomb
41. Sassy Stephie
42. Tasha Simone
43. Alicia Fox
44. Amber O’Neal
45. Allison Danger
46. Kacee Carlisle
47. Brittany Savage
48. A.J.
49. Melissa Coates
50. Jessica James
— Following the Brie Bella vs. Kelly Kelly match on Raw, The Score in Canada accidentally cut to a feed of Eastbound and Down. During the brief cutaway, four seconds of bare-breasted women aired. The Score then briefly cut to a Steve Austin music video featuring “Somewhere Down in Texas” by George Strait before returning to the broadcast with the Alex Riley highlight video.
— Tonight’s episode of WWE NXT will highlight past contestants who have gone on to superstardom including A.J., Alex Riley, Brodus Clay, Daniel Bryan, Justin Gabriel, Kaitlyn and Wade Barrett. The synopsis of tonight’s episode reads: “WWE NXT is WWE’s launching pad to Superstardom. Six NXT Graduates have gone on to win WWE Championships, including Wade Barrett and Daniel Bryan. After Tuesday’s LIVE SuperSmackDown, tune in to NXT.WWE.COM at 10 ET/7 PT for the NXT Graduates special!”
— Chris Masters is advertised to appear at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet 13963 Alondra Blvd. Santa Fe Springs, California (Space H-5) on Saturday, September 10 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
— WWE Superstars Chris Masters, Curt Hawkins, Dolph Ziggler and JTG appear on tonight’s episode of Silent Library, which airs at at 7:00 p.m. on MTV. A replay airs at 2:30 a.m.
— NXT Season 3 contestant AJ Lee worked this past weekend’s SmackDown live events, teaming with Beth Phoenix in a tag team bouts against Layla and Kaitlyn. Lee and Phoenix split the series, losing on Saturday and winning on Sunday.
— A Twitter account has been launched for WWE Classics On Demand.
— Last week’s episode of SmackDown featured 32 minutes and 17 seconds of in-ring action, down from 34 minutes and 13 seconds the week before.
— Steve Austin said this morning on his Twitter account that Tough Enough has concluded filming.
“Well…just finished with Tough Enough…it was a helluva lot of fun…thanks to @BillDeMott, @trishstratuscom, and Booker T..great cats.”
— The May 31 SmackDown taping will take place at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. The advertised main event is Edge and Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio and Cody Rhodes.
— Tough Enough contestant Matt Cross is scheduled to appear for the Vanguard Wrestling All-Star Alliance in Oak Park, Illinois on April 9.
— NXT Season 3 contestant AJ Lee celebrates her 24th birthday today. She currently reigns as FCW Divas Champion in WWE developmental.
— The Huntsville Times recently conducted an interview with Kofi Kingston promoting next Monday’s SmackDown live event in the area. The article contrasts WWE’s family-friendly, PG product to the “Attitude Era.” Kingston adamantly feels that wrestling can be PG.
“Absolutely,” Kingston said. “It’s one of those things where anyone can come to the show. Back in the day, it was a little more different and more intense. There were a lot of teenagers and adults in the crowd and you didn’t want to bring your kids to the show.
“We’ve done a better job and tried to be more creative to tell a story that everyone can enjoy. We want to create an experience the parents can bring the kids to. We’ve worked hard to do that and it’s a route we want to go.”
— In a sharp contrast to her plucky underdog babyface character on the third season of NXT, AJ portrays a snooty heel in Florida Championship Wrestling. Click here to see video of AJ bragging about being the first and only Diva to hold the Florida Divas Championship and Queen of FCW crown.
— Joey Styles announced today on Twitter that photoshoots of Divas who choose to pose will be posted every Thursday on WWE.com. The website posted new photos of Gail Kim.
— Rosa Mendes beat AJ on Sunday’s episode of FCW Wrestling to become the new Queen of FCW. The New Jersey native had held the crown since February.
The SmackDown Diva denied AJ’s finishing maneuver attempt, the Octopus hold, and moments later garnered the three count. After the match, Mendes said it was her dream to become the Queen of FCW and continued rambling in Spanish.
In a trivia note, Mendes has yet to win a singles match on WWE television since joining the main roster two years ago.
— One day after appearing as a heel at WWE’s annual Tribute to the Troops event, Melina was back working as a babyface at last night’s Raw live event in Biloxi, Mississippi. She and Eve beat Maryse and Alicia Fox in a tag team contest.
— Rey Mysterio celebrated his 36th birthday Sunday.
It is said that fan balloting for the winner of NXT played a huge part in WWE’s decision to have Kaitlyn beat Naomi for the season three crown.
While the company does not disclose details on how eliminations are determined, Kaitlyn won a vote — advertised as 50 percent audience and 50 percent Pros.
Besides Kaitlyn, AJ is expected to be retained on television, likely with Primo on Raw. While not confirmed, it is expected that Kaitlyn will join the Smackdown brand to continue her interaction with Vickie Guerrero.
In regards to the runner-up of NXT season three, Naomi, many people within the company are high on her as a long-term project due to her stellar athletic ability.
Meanwhile, there is no clear-cut decision on the future of Maxine and Aksana. It’s expected that both will continue working Florida Championship Wrestling events.
Jamie Keyes was released following her elimination and a number of people were surprised to see her brought back for last night’s show. The other women were on the road every week with WWE following their elimination.
— The results of the latest NXT Poll were revealed on last night’s episode of WWE NXT and it was disclosed that AJ has been eliminated from the competition. Naomi and Kaitlyn are the remaining two contestants in the competition.
Following the announcement, A.J. spoke on the mic and thanked everyone who voted for her. She began to cry while discussing the fans being ready for a Diva such as her. A.J. wants to represent all of the girls watching and be a girl the guys want to hang out with. She said it is not the last they have seen of her and that she will be back to accomplish her dreams.
Next week’s show is the final episode of season three, where the winner will be determined.
— A match pitting Curt Hawkins against Trent Barreta was taped Tuesday night in Jacksonville for this week’s episode of WWE Superstars. Matches taped Monday in Orlando, Florida were Mark Henry vs. The Usos in a Handicap Match and Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov vs. Zack Ryder & Primo.
— Tickets for the May 1, 2010 Extreme Rules pay-per-view at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida will officially go on sale on Saturday at 10 a.m. Tickets for the event are priced at $275 (including take-home chair), $95, $70, $45 and $20. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
— WWE Diva Eve Torres wrote last night on Twitter that she was attacked by a giant squid. She enclosed a gruesome photo of her back, which is littered with red marks.
While the marks are legit, she said today that she was merely joking about being attacked by a giant squid. She said the marks are from a Chinese healing procedure called Cupping.
— Matt Hardy was removed from the opening SmackDown montage on Friday’s show. He remains listed on the company website’s SmackDown roster page.
— Putting a rumor to rest, TNA star Jay Lethal wrote on his Twitter account that he is not dating NXT Rookie Diva AJ Lee — after being asked. He did, however, note that they were a couple at one point.
Regarding NXT Rookie Diva AJ Lee, WWE’s creative department discussed changing the 23-year-old’s ring name due to a rival promotion’s wrestler sharing the same first name, but ultimately felt it was no concern.
WWE officials originally intended to promote Lee over the summer to the SmackDown brand as a new babyface Diva, replacing released performer Mickie James as ‘the cute small girl’. A vignette featuring Lee aired before the live crowd at the July 6th Friday Night SmackDown television taping om Atlanta, Georgia but cut from the television broadcast because they were introducing Alberto Del Rio via vignettes and felt that other talent shouldn’t be introduced simultaneously.
Lee, who’s real name is believed to be April Jeanette, started wrestling independently in the Northeast in 2007, two years after graduating from high school. While plying her trade on the indy circuit, Lee attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in New York City, majoring in Film and Television production. With just over 20 matches under her belt, she attended WWE’s May 2009 talent evaluation clinic and nabbed a developmental deal — the first female with prior wrestling experience to be signed to a contract in over two years.
Lee debuted in Florida Championship Wrestling in August 2009 and has been among the most prominently featured performers in the developmental promotion since then. She currently reigns as the Queen of FCW.
Of the six NXT season three contestants, Lee is the only contestant with prior WWE wrestling experience, having just competed last week at a SmackDown live event in Odessa, Texas. She is regarded as ‘far and away’ the best in-ring performer of the cast and thus considered the favorite entering the competition.
source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Posted September 2nd, 2010 in News, WWE. Tagged: AJ Lee.
— Vince McMahon noted in a recent interview with the Boston Herald that he held a talent meeting a few years ago urging his performers to “reach for the brass ring” regardless of whom they have to step over. He particularly recalled John Cena approaching him at the end of the meeting to say, ‘I’m your man.’
The interview caught the attention of an anonymous wrestler who attended the meeting. He said there were actually five wrestlers who came over to McMahon following the meeting to say they were the right man for the job.
“The only difference is that Cena did his ‘stepping over guys’ in the locker room more than the ring,” said the wrestler.
The anonymous wrestler feels McMahon was looking for a “backstabbing asshole/stooge” to serve as his top WWE Superstar.
“It has zero to do with in-ring talent,” the wrestler said. “Cena stepped on guys like the Spirit Squad and others who were only there for less than six months.”
— Monday’s Raw saw Eve Torres become the No. 1 contender to Alicia Fox’s Divas Championship as a result of her victory over Maryse. Immediately following the bout, Howard Finkel expressed his displeasure with the Raw Divas division, but more specifically, Torres.
“I have had it with the Raw Diva division,” the WWE Hall of Famer remarked during the live Raw chat on WWEUniverse.com. He added, “I DO NOT hate Divas…..I am not a fan of who is the # 1 contender.”
— At the July 6 Friday Night SmackDown television taping, WWE ran a vignette before the Atlanta crowd introducing a new Diva by the name of AJ Lee. The vignette, however, was cut from the broadcast. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a decision was made to introduce one new character at a time — currently Alberto Del Rio — thus explaining why vignettes introducing Lee have yet to surface. Once Del Rio makes his official debut in WWE, the promotion of Lee will commence.
Lee, who’s real name is believed to be April Jeanette, is 23 years old and has been under contract to World Wrestling Entertainment since May 2009. At 5 foot 2 and 99 pounds, she is the smallest female performer affiliated with either major wrestling organization. Prior to joining WWE, Lee worked independent wrestling shows throughout the Northeast. She has been competing professionally since September 2007.
— Matches and segments taking place on this week’s episode of WWE Superstars on WGN America are as follows:
* Yoshi Tatsu and Gail Kim vs. Primo and Jillian
* Zack Ryder vs. Goldust
* Kelly Kelly and Tiffany vs. Michelle McCool and Layla
* Chris Masters holds a “Master Lock Challenge”
— WWE developmental wrestler AJ Lee was backstage at last night’s SmackDown taping in Atlanta, but was not used during the live show. She traveled with the Raw crew the previous week and worked in the role of hostess at live events. She has been under contract to the organization since May 2009 and is believed to be the women’s wrestler most likely to be promoted to the main roster.
— Lex Luger was among Google’s top searches Monday night as a result of a video package that aired on Raw highlighting his body slam of the 600-pound Yokozuna on July 4, 1993.
— NXT Rookie Alex Riley suffered a wound to the back of his head while defending his FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship against Kaval at last night’s Florida Championship Wrestling television taping in Tampa, Florida, reports www.pwinsider.com.
Riley suffered the injury after hitting his head on the guardrail, which was in due part to a kick from Kaval. The match was immediately stopped and medical personnel assisted Riley to the back.
Seeing as the match was the final bout of the three-episode taping, FCW President Steve Keirn came out to apologize to the fans, noting it will take place at a different time. He said he had a standby match, which saw Percy Watson upend Big E. Langston.
— WWE developmental wrestler AJ Lee was on the road with the Raw brand this past week, working in the role of hostess at live events. Lee, who has been under contract to WWE since May 2009, was crowned “Queen of FCW” this past February after beating Serena in a match.
— Former WWE performer Gene Snitsky was backstage visiting friends at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.