AJ Lee was a trailblazer for female wrestlers in WWE, but left the company before the #GiveDivasAChance movement transformed "Divas" into "Women." Fans, furious after watching another women's match that lasted only seconds, got the hashtag trending on social media and forced WWE to take action.
NXT stars Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Sasha Banks were called up to the main roster, and the "Divas" label was quickly dropped. Further changes followed, and now, women in WWE frequently main event shows, get just as much time in the ring as the men, and are treated as more than mere eye candy.
In 2015, Stephanie McMahon took to social media to share her support for Patricia Arquette's Oscars speech advocating for equal rights. Lee, who was still under contract at the time, responded by pointing out that, despite high merchandise and ratings for WWE's women, they received a fraction of the screentime and wages as male Superstars.
Their exchange went viral and ultimately played a big role in #GiveDivasAChance. In the latest episode of What's Your Story? With Steph McMahon, both women sat down for a conversation and broke their silence on the very public exchange.
"I was actually happy that you posted that," McMahon admitted. "I wasn’t happy that it was directed at me because it wasn’t anything I had direct control over. But I was really happy that you did because that movement, the whole women’s evolution in WWE, it didn’t happen because of executives."
"I mean, maybe along the way, people voicing their opinions," she continued, "but it really happened because of the women who paved the way all the way back to the beginning of all of these incredible women who have been inside the squared circle no matter what promotion they were in."
"For our audience, when they started the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance' at that time, that’s what couldn’t be ignored," McMahon acknowledged. "And the audience would never have gotten behind the movement if it weren’t for people like you who actually stood up for women publicly and take on the machine a little bit. It was a big deal, I thought."
Lee says she knew that calling Stephanie out so publicly would likely have consequences, but explained why she stands by her actions at the time. "I feel like change doesn’t happen unless there’s sacrifice," Lee said. "You have to be willing to lose everything to get what you want."
"I feel like in every aspect of life — playing it safe might give you a safe life, but I don’t know if it gives you an exceptional life. And so I felt like that was worth it, whatever backlash was going to be. But I thought you were cool after. Like, everyone was pretty chill. It was business and I appreciate that," she concluded.
The full conversation makes for a fascinating watch and can be viewed in the player below.