AJ Lee

April Jeanette Mendez (born March 19, 1987) is an American author, screenwriter and retired professional wrestler.

She is best known for her time in WWE under the ring name AJ Lee.

April Jeanette Mendez was born on March 19, 1987, in Union City, New Jersey.

Her mother, Janet Acevedo, was a homemaker and later a home health aide, while her father, Robert Mendez, was an automotive engineer.

She is the youngest of three children, and is of Puerto Rican descent.

In describing her childhood, Mendez said her family struggled with poverty, mental illness, and drug addiction.

They frequently moved between apartments, sometimes living in motels or their car when they could not afford rent.

Her brother's interest in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) influenced her to become a professional wrestler.

With inspiration from WWE's female wrestlers, especially Lita, she cemented her ambition at 12 years old.

In 2005, she graduated from Memorial High School in West New York, New Jersey.

She attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she majored in film and television production, until family and financial issues led to her dropping out six months into her studies.

Afterward, she started working full-time to afford wrestling training.

As an homage to her brother, who was in the U.S. Army, she occasionally wore camouflage wrestling attire.

Mendez was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a condition her mother also suffered from, around the age of 20.

She had previously experienced adverse effects from a misdiagnosis of depression, and overdosed on antidepressants and painkillers.

This event, which she considers a suicide attempt, caused her to seek proper treatment and the right diagnosis.

She credits the condition for giving her the bravery to achieve her goals.

Mendez began her professional wrestling career in 2007 in New Jersey's independent circuit.

In March 2007, Mendez enrolled in a wrestling school close to her home, where she was trained by Jay Lethal.

Around late 2007, she began to perform on the New Jersey independent circuit under the ring name Miss April.

She joined the New Jersey-based promotion Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU) in October 2008.

She signed with WWE in 2009 and spent two years in its developmental branch, Florida Championship Wrestling, before her promotion to the main roster.

After little success in her first months, Miss April formed a tag team with Brooke Carter, who together captured the WSU Tag Team Championship in February 2009.

She also won the annual WSU/National Wrestling Superstars King and Queen of the Ring tournament alongside Jay Lethal two months later.

In May, she left WSU upon signing with WWE and relinquished her championship.

Mendez paid US$1,500 to attend a WWE tryout camp in May 2009, where she signed a contract.

She reported to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory, and debuted under the ring name April Lee at a house show in late July.

Shortly thereafter, her name was changed to AJ Lee.

In February 2010, AJ defeated Serena Mancini to win the Queen of FCW title.

A few months later, AJ was eliminated from a tournament that determined the inaugural FCW Divas Champion; she engaged in a feud with the winner, Naomi Knight, and her character became a heel (bad guy).

In November, AJ lost the Queen of FCW title to Rosa Mendes.

AJ then defeated Naomi for the FCW Divas Championship in December, which made her the first to win both titles available to FCW's female wrestlers.

While in FCW, Mendez took part in the third season of NXT beginning in September 2010.

The show mixed professional wrestling and reality competition formats as six female participants from FCW competed to be WWE's "next breakout star".

She held the championship until April 2011, when she lost it to Aksana.

In 2012, she rose to prominence through storylines with her "mentally unstable" character, such as high-profile relationships and a three-month stint as the General Manager of Raw.

In subsequent years, she won the Divas Championship a record-tying three times and held the title for an overall record of 406 days.

She also won the Slammy Award for Diva of the Year in 2012 and 2014, and readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated voted her Woman of the Year from 2012 to 2014.

She retired from in-ring performing in 2015.

Mendez's 2017 memoir, Crazy Is My Superpower, was a New York Times Best Seller.