If there are two popular former stars the WWE isn’t on the best of terms with, it’s CM Punk and AJ Lee.
Although the latter exited the company in an entirely different fashion to her husband by retiring, they’re always going to be treated in the same way, and that situation probably isn’t helped by the fact that CM Punk’s libel trial with a WWE doctor is edging closer.
BITTERNESS
WWE has already erased AJ Lee from their history books, with her once-record breaking title reign as Divas Champion coming to an end via Nikki Bella who held the defunct title for 301 days.
Punk is on his way to being erased from history too. His 434-day reign as WWE Champion is set to be easily smashed by Brock Lesnar and his reign as the Universal Champion; a title he captured back at WrestleMania 33.
One thing WWE fans will fondly remember about AJ Lee is when she publicly called out Stephanie McMahon for hypocrisy on social media when there was a lot of talk about women getting equal pay as their male counterparts.
Following that public call out, fans were wondering why Lee faced no repercussions after going out of character and calling out someone of Stephanie’s stature publicly.
When Dave Meltzer recently discussed the situation, he revealed that the only reason Stephanie didn’t punish AJ Lee on television was because Vince McMahon told her not to.
'THE BAD GUYS'
When speaking on an edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer claimed that punishing Lee would make WWE look like the bad guys in what would have been a losing battle.
According to Wrestling News Source, he said: “Basically, Steph was told by Vince that there’s to be no lashing out at her or punishing her on television because ‘WWE would look like the bad guys’ and that ‘it was a losing battle.’
“Soon after, the #GiveDivasAChance trend started. Shows that Vince has his finger on the pulse. Interesting tidbit.”
It’s understandable as to why Vince wouldn’t want Stephanie to stoop so low and get personal, especially since any action would have shined a negative light on WWE.
Obviously, losing both Punk and Lee were significant losses to the company. However, even with Lee’s frustrations at what Stephanie had said, the women’s division is now flourishing as the female stars are enjoying plenty of success.
Luckily, Vince stepped in just in time.
What do you make of Vince not allowing Stephanie to publicly punish AJ Lee on television? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.