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Nearly 15 years ago, AJ Lee (aka AJ Mendez) kicked off her wrestling career, competing on the independent circuit. Two years later, she signed a contract with WWE.
Lee spent about six years in the Stamford-based company, during which time she won the Divas Championship three times and was involved in several entertaining storylines. The 35-year-old then retired from professional wrestling in 2015.
Before joining WWE and while she was there, Lee was romantically linked with several men, including both fellow superstars and men who had never competed inside the squared circle. While some of these relationships were true, others were probably just rumors.
Here are 12 men/women former WWE Superstar AJ Lee has been romantically linked with in real life.
#12. AJ Lee went on her first date when she was 19
Due to her mother's way of parenting, AJ Lee did not start dating before she was 19. The former WWE Divas Champion explained in her book "Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts, and Breaking the Rules" that she knew she would not be able to handle dating while living with her mother.
The 35-year-old disclosed that she was afraid of physical contact growing up. She also loved school and wanted to focus on it to get into a good college. Hence, she was not interested in dating, despite having a crush on a guy during high school.
"I had been so scared of physical contact by the insane parenting approach of my mother that I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle dating while living at home. I would’ve had to hide a relationship and constantly worry about her finding out and drowning me in a bathtub. And besides that, I loved school. All I wanted to do was focus on it and get into a good college and then worry about having a life," she wrote in her book.
After Lee turned 19, she asked out a guy she met at her workplace at the time. Nevertheless, the former WWE Divas Champion's first date did not go well.
"When I was nineteen, I went on my first official date. A cute guy walked into my workplace and I asked him out. But at the end of the night, when he dropped me off at my front door and leaned in, I jumped back, shouted, 'Ummm, no thank you,' and ran into my apartment. I was clearly a natural at romance. I wanted my first (official) kiss to mean something more. I had waited this long and I wasn't going to waste it on a guy who hadn't asked me a single question the whole night," she added in her book.
Lee did not name the guy in her book. However, she apparently never went out with him again.
#11. AJ Lee had her first kiss with a longtime friend
After her disastrous first date, AJ Lee surprisingly ended up having her first kiss with one of her longtime friends.
In her book "Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts, and Breaking the Rules," the former WWE Divas Champion disclosed that her friend spent a lot of time taking an interest in her life.
"My first kiss ended up being with a longtime friend who would spend hours, amounting to months, asking me about myself, being genuinely interested in the answers, and simply enjoying my company. He even wrote me a poem once," she wrote.
Despite his efforts, Lee's friend failed to convince her to have an intimate relationship.
#10, #9 & #8. AJ Lee had three different experiences during her early 20s
During her early 20s, AJ Lee seemingly dated several people. In her book "Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts, and Breaking the Rules," she revealed that although she was a little experimental, she was not wild.
The former WWE Superstar explained that she had no specific taste during that time. The 35-year-old also revealed that she once dated a girl:
"Though not even my closest friends knew it, I was a virgin well into my twenties. Because I had a varied dating history—that included a white guy, a black guy, and a girl—friends assumed I was a bit experimental. But I wasn't wild; I just didn't have a specific taste. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I knew no one had made me feel safe enough to get my V-card punched," Lee wrote in her book.
Lee signed a developmental contract with WWE when she was 22. She would then date several of her co-workers.
#7. AJ Lee reportedly dated AEW star Jay Lethal
Before joining WWE, AJ Lee trained under current AEW and ROH star Jay Lethal. The two also reportedly got romantically involved in 2007. The former Divas Champion and the AEW star took many photos together, in which they seemed to be very much in love. However, their relationship did not last, and they eventually broke up.
Lee and Lethal competed as a tag team in a few matches on the independent circuit in 2009. While the former Divas Champion then signed with the Stamford-based company, her ex-boyfriend continued to wrestle in IMPACT Wrestling.
A few years ago, Lethal took a shot at Lee's current husband CM Punk during a promo on ROH. The 37-year-old stated that he would not take "hand-me-downs" from Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, or CM Punk.
#6. AJ Lee had her first adult relationship with a WWE Superstar
Two years after joining WWE, AJ Lee made her main roster debut. That same year, she started dating a fellow superstar she referred to in her book "Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts, and Breaking the Rules" as "Greg."
Many believe the WWE Superstar Lee referred to in her book is Trent Beretta, whose real name is Gregory Marasciulo. The former Divas Champion stated that he was kind and had a close relationship with her family:
"My first year on the main roster I started dating another wrestler. Greg was my first real adult relationship and my first love. He was my first everything. He was kind, called me beautiful every day, made me birthday gifts by hand, and was close to my family. I felt safe and loved and did not regret it. Waiting until I was mature enough to handle the emotional baggage that comes with s** was worth it," she wrote in her book.
Despite this, Greg later broke up with Lee after she let the relationship crumble as her career became her main focus.
"My career became my main focus, and being young and incapable of focusing on two things at once, I started to let my relationship fall to the wayside. I was finally succeeding in the job of my dreams, and to get where I wanted to go, I had to give it my undivided attention. Even though I was being a shitty partner, it still knocked me on my ass when I got dumped," Lee added.
Baretta is currently active in AEW, where he shares the locker room with Lee's current husband.
#5. A rumor claimed AJ Lee was in a relationship with Dolph Ziggler
In late 2012, Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee became an on-screen couple after the former WWE Divas Champion helped The Showoff retain his Money in the Bank briefcase in a match against John Cena at TLC 2012.
While they worked together on the storyline, rumors suggested Lee and Ziggler were also an item in real life. In an interview with IGN in 2013, Lee stated that The Showoff was one of her best friends in the wrestling industry:
"The really funny thing is that somewhere along the way, Dolph and I and E became really good friends, which is so weird. Especially since a year ago, I think Dolph and I actually hated each other… just for no reason! We were just like, “We’re so opposite.” Like, “He’s such a douche bag,” and he thought I was the biggest nerd. We were just mean to each other. And then to work together so much, where we are traveling together and go to dinner together and we enjoy each other’s company, it’s so funny to me. Like how did that happen?"
Ziggler and Lee apparently were never a couple. Instead, they just had a close friendship.
#4. AJ Lee almost dated another WWE Superstar before discovering a surprise
After her relationship with "Greg" ended, AJ Lee had a few bad dating experiences, including going out with a guy who wore leather bracelets, as she revealed in her book "Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts, and Breaking the Rules."
The former Divas Champion was also close to dating another WWE Superstar before discovering he was secretly in a relationship with another female competitor.
"I almost got wrapped up with another wrestler. While he aggressively courted me, I ignorantly giggled, enjoying the affirming attention. What I didn’t realize was that he was secretly dating another woman in the company, and she would understandably hate me forever. Since he had way more stroke than I did, I worried that he would try to have me fired after I told him to back off. But he ended up taking it like a champ," she wrote.
The 35-year-old explained in her book that she and the unnamed superstar awkwardly passed each other in the halls from there on out.
#3. AJ Lee dated a guy for a year before discovering that he cheated on her with one of her best friends
After stopping the advances of the previously mentioned WWE Superstar, AJ Lee dated another guy, who many reports believed was another wrestler, for a year. However, their romance ended badly.
In her book "Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts, and Breaking the Rules," the former WWE Divas Champion disclosed that she discovered that he had cheated on her with one of her best friends:
"I spent almost a year dating someone who ended up sleeping with one of my best friends. He was then very surprised that it bothered me. Wait, were we supposed to be exclusive this whole time? They weren't all winners," she wrote.
Lee eventually broke up with that person. Despite her unpleasant experience dating wrestlers so far, she later got romantically involved with another in-ring performer.
#2. Rumors claimed AJ Lee had a love affair with John Cena
During her time in WWE, AJ Lee had several on-screen romances, including one with John Cena. The Leader of the Cenation and the former WWE Divas Champion even shared a few kisses on-screen.
During that time, some rumors suggested that Lee had a love affair with Cena. However, the rumored relationship was never confirmed or denied by either of the two wrestlers.
It also remains unclear if Cena is one of the unnamed wrestlers Lee spoke about in her book.
The Leader of the Cenation has dated several female WWE Superstars since officially joining the company in 2001, including Victoria, Nikki Bella, and Mickie James.
#1. AJ Lee married CM Punk
During her tenure in WWE, AJ Lee developed a strong friendship with CM Punk. The two were even an on-screen couple before they started dating in real life.
In her book "Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts, and Breaking the Rules," the former WWE Divas Champion revealed that her first kiss with Punk was on-screen. However, they did not start dating until two years later.
"For the next two years, we went on dating other people, supporting those relationships while not realizing what we really wanted, being a mentor and student, and acting like brother and sister. I think we both saw a possible forever in the other and ran screaming in the opposite direction. But after living in denial, fighting all the time, my character proposing to his and then agreeing to marry someone else, and after two years of the world's most bizarre foreplay, one day Phil and I just said 'f*** it,' and we jumped headfirst into a serious relationship," she wrote in her book.
After dating for only a few months, the couple tied the knot in June 2014. They have been together ever since.
