AJ Lee Retires From WWE News 2015: CM Punk Reacts

The WWE released the following statement on April 3 about Lee’s retirement: “AJ Lee (April Mendez) has decided to retire from in-ring competition with WWE. We wish AJ the very best.”

Lee has been in the WWE main roster since 2009. Her first Divas Championship win was the longest in the title’s history, as she held the title for 295 days. She was also Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Woman of the Year for three consecutive years.

Lee suffered a neck injury in August 2014 and took some time to heal. On March 29, AJ and Paige teamed up against the Bella Twins at Wrestlemania 31.

She married former WWE wrestler CM Punk in 2014, and Punk made some controversial comments about the WWE back in November and he revealed that he was let go on his wedding day.

Just one day after Lee’s retirement was announced, Punk took to Twitter to echo the sentiment of his wife’s fans as he wrote, “#ThankYouAJ.”

WWE Legend Mick Foley paid tribute to Lee in a post on Facebook following the announcement.

“AJ Lee has retired from WWE—and somehow that just doesn’t seem right,” he wrote. “I have been talking for a while about a revolution in women’s wrestling—and I really do believe we are on the verge of a new dawn for women’s wrestling. When that new dawn arrives, it would only seem fitting that AJ be allowed to bask in the warmth of the rays she helped make possible.”

“AJ Lee was a pioneer—fighting her way up against all odds in the WWE developmental system, proving that unique talent, heart, and determination were just as important (if not more so) as the physical attributes that were generally accepted as necessary to find a spot near the top of the women’s roster,” he continued.

On April 5, Lee broke her silence about her retirement by tweeting, “Break the rules. Be a fighter. Any dream is possible if you are brave enough to do it YOUR way. Thank you all.”