WINC Watchlist: AJ Lee's Greatest Matches - Wrestling Inc.

AJ Lee made her triumphant return to WWE after a 10-year long hiatus in September 2025 to stand alongside her husband, CM Punk, as he feuded with fellow married couple Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch. She wrestled her first match since March 30, 2015 at Wrestlepalooza where she and Punk were successful in toppling "The Man" and "The Visionary."Since returning to the ring, Lee has also returned to singles action and won the Women's Intercontinental Championship from Lynch at the 2026 Elimination Chamber, a match that deserves an honorable mention in Lee's list of best matches. She has experience with singles titles already, however, as she was a beloved Divas Champion back in her first run with the company, where she held the gold three times.Lee firstsigned with WWE in May 2009 and started in FCW. After competing in the third season of "NXT," back when it was still a reality show, she debuted on the main roster alongside Kaitlyn in May 2011. Lee quickly became a fan favorite due to her nerdy nature and different look compared to the other Divas of her era. Lee was more relatable, grittier, and could work a mean match when given time, though women's matches in those years were often not awarded the minutes they deserved on WWE programming. Lee departed WWE following WrestleMania 31 in 2015, but she didn't leave without paving the way for the female stars of the future.She inspired many women of the current era, leading to her catchphrase "I'm your favorite wrestler's favorite wrestler" upon her return. Before she was the icon she is today, Lee fought her way to the top with feuds against the likes of Kaitlyn, fellow "Anti-Diva" Paige, the Bellas Twins and the entire cast of "Total Divas," and more. WrestleMania 31 was big for Lee, though it would be one of her last matches during her first run. The year before, she defended her title in the "Vickie Guerrero Divas Championship Invitational," where she took on the entire Divas division in a single-fall match, but her 'Mania 31 bout alongside Paige against Nikki and Brie, the Bella Twins, was a lot more focused and not nearly as gimmicky. The match was a few months after the "#GiveDivasAChance" movement gained momentum on social media following a 30-second women's match on "WWE Raw," and the women were allotted just under seven minutes on "The Grandest Stage of Them All."While two years removed from Lee's "pipe bomb" promo about the "Total Divas" cast, which Paige was now part of, commentary made note that the women were fighting to redefine what it meant to be a role model. Nikki and Paige started off the match, and the Bellas' focus was to keep Paige isolated and away from Lee. Both twins knocked Lee off the side of the ring as they beat down Paige.Nikki hit the Rack Attack, but Paige kicked out. Paige was able to rally after taking the move, knocking down both Bellas, but Lee was still down on the outside. Paige hit the twins with a cannonball and finally made it to Lee, who took it to Nikki in the ring. Brie broke up the Black Widow attempt, allowing for Nikki to get another near fall, but in the end, Nikki would finally submit to Lee's signature hold.Lee would go on to have her final match of her first run with WWE the following night on "Raw" in a six-woman tag team match. She scored the win alongside Paige and Naomi, and walked away from professional wrestling for the next 10 years. Paige and Lee's careers were interconnected from the moment the former debuted on the main roster the day after WrestleMania 30 and defeated Lee for the Divas Championship. Ahead of Hell in a Cell 2014, the women had been trading victories back and forth, and Lee now once again held the Divas gold. At the pay-per-view, she scored a big win over Paige, cementing her status as top Diva of the time, despite the former champion's best efforts. Paige had Alicia Fox by her side, but she didn't prove helpful by the end of the almost seven-minute match.The match started off an even bout, with the women trading offense back-and-forth. Fox tried to get involved in the match early when Lee and Paige took the fight to the outside, but Lee laid her out. However, the distraction gave Paige the opportunity she needed, and she slammed Lee off the barricade and the ring post, getting the upper hand.Paige continued to dominate until Lee was able to counter her in the corner into a burst of her own offense, until she ran right into a big kick from the challenger. Lee hit a tornado DDT from the second rope, but Paige kicked out. Paige rolled out of the ring to compose herself, and Lee followed, taking the fight back to the outside. They battled on the barricade until Lee tripped up her opponent, sending Paige crashing down across it, knocking the back of her head as she landed. Back in the ring, Lee got Paige in the Black Widow, and the "Anti-Diva" quickly submitted.Hell in a Cell 2014 saw two women's matches, with the Bella Twins infamously facing off earlier in the show, but Lee and Paige wouldn't be outdone by the Twins' dramatic storyline and showed off what they could do between the ropes. Night of Champions 2014 was another historic match for Lee, as she captured her then record-tying third Divas Championship with a victory over Nikki Bella and Paige. The women wrestled in the penultimate match of the night, a high spot on the card for women of the time. Lee, Paige, and Bella went to war for a total of eight minutes and 45 seconds, with Lee pulling out the Black Widow to etch her name in history.Bella was given the opportunity to challenge Paige by Stephanie McMahon, and Lee had a rematch on deck after losing the title to Paige at SummerSlam, making the bout a triple threat. Bella and Paige got in each other's faces as the bell rang, until they realized Lee was also there and went after her. Lee dumped Paige out of the ring and focused on Bella to start.Paige got caught in an arm bar by Bella, then walked right into offense by Lee. Lee drove both her opponents into the barricade to stand tall before targeting Paige back in the ring. The champion gained the upper hand over Lee until she was knocked out of the ring by Bella with a hard strike. Lee locked in the Black Widow briefly on Bella before Paige broke up the hold.Bella hit a Tower of Doom spot with Paige and Lee on the ropes, wiping all three Divas out. Bella hit the Rack Attack on Paige, but Lee saved the match and took out Bella on the outside. She locked in the Black Widow on Paige, who tapped out.The match was impressive and stayed exciting throughout. Lee would capture the Divas Championship for the final time, not knowing a brand new women's championship would be in her future a decade later. It may not come as a surprise that the "Low Key Legend" Natalya, a student of The Dungeon, was Lee's opponent in one of the best matches of her career. Natalya was one of the best women in the ring during the era, and she took Lee to a fantastic match for the Divas Championship at TLC 2013. The match was set up after team "Total Divas" made Lee, of team "True Divas," tap out during their Survivor Series match. After stacking some more victories over Lee on top of that, Natalya was named number one contender to the Divas title.Natalya kicked off the match with a quick rollup, but was unsuccessful and only seemed to anger the champion. Lee used her bodyguard at the time, Tamina, as a distraction, and after Natayla threw Lee into the ring barricade, a stare from Tamina was enough to throw Natalya off her game and allow Lee to capitalize. Natalya attempted to overpower the champion, but Lee wouldn't stay down.The challenger rallied with a series of suplexes then locked in the sharpshooter on Lee in the middle of the ring, but Lee was able to reverse the move. Tamina got on the apron to distract Natalya again, and Lee locked in the Black Widow for a brief moment before Natalya broke the hold.The match was a rare victory for Lee without the use of her submission, however. Lee countered the second Sharpshooter attempt when she grabbed a handful of Natalya's hair and rolled her up for the win. The match lasted just over six minutes and 30 seconds, and was akin to the women's matches we see on WWE programming today. Lee came up in WWE alongside Kaitlyn, and one of her best matches to date was against her friend at Payback in 2013 where Lee won her first Divas Championship. The women were given almost 10 minutes for their pay-per-view match, which led to one of the most important victories in Lee's career.Lee earned the right to challenge Kaitlyn for the Divas title by winning a battle royal on an edition of "Raw." While the match didn't have much story behind it, initially, Kaitlyn started to receive gifts from a "secret admirer" following Lee's win, which turned out to be Dolph Ziggler, who was alongside a heel Lee at the time, and Lee's bodyguard, Big E Langston. It all turned out to be a mind game planned by Lee, however, which helped her get inside the champion's head when Langston dropped Kaitlyn in the ring during the reveal.Kaitlyn wasn't playing around to start off the match, and she threw Lee over the commentary desk to try and take her out early. Lee rallied quickly, however, and hit double neck breakers to the champion and locked in a sleeper. Kaitlyn looked to have the match won with a big shoulder off the ropes, but Lee popped up to lock in the Black Widow, and Kaitlyn countered into a pin attempt.At one point in the match, Kaitlyn removed Lee's belt, but it was Lee who clocked the champion with it behind the referee's back. Kaitlyn caught Lee off a cross body, but Lee quickly moved into the Black Widow once again. Kaitlyn again escaped the hold and hit a spear to Lee. The champion attempted another spear, but went head-first into the turnbuckle, allowing for Lee to regroup enough to lock in the Black Widow a third time for the victory.