AJ Lee

I didn't have the easiest time growing up; it's no secret. We were just poor.

From a young age, I felt like I was supposed to be the sort of female who is doing something strong.

I have a very distinct memory of 'ExciteBike' and making my own courses. I had an obsession with that game.

It wasn't cool that I didn't comb my hair and had books and wore glasses. It was never cool be a nerd and tomboy, and these days, it really is. And I'm like, 'You guys have no idea what I went through.' How many times my mother yelled at me to comb my hair.

The trick is for Divas to find what works for them. I've done some ridiculous stuff in my career, but there's still nothing that's gotten a reaction as big as me skipping around the ring.

There's definitely a list of things I'd like to do. But there's been a lot of things I hadn't even thought would have been possible to do that I'd been able to do, so I think I'll surprise myself and keep breaking that glass ceiling to see what's next. Hopefully people get surprised - that's my main goal.

For me, Jersey represents going through what you can go through and still surviving. That's the cool thing about people from the Tri-State area. We're fighters. We're survivors, and we're edgier than anyone else on Earth.

I'm not the sexy girl. I'm more youthful and innocent, the girl who wears jeans and T-shirts and sneakers. But fans have accepted that I'm a tomboy. There's a different group of people who find that attractive.

I've lived in so many different towns - Guttenberg, Union City, West New York, Jersey City. We didn't have a lot of money, and we'd get kicked out of places a lot.

I used to be naive. I didn't realize the value of being a whole performer... People start to care about you when they know more about you and see different aspects of your personality.

Everything I was told should be my greatest insecurities and weaknesses, everything that I've been labeled - short, nerdy, skinny, weak, impulsive, ugly, tomboy, poor, rebel, loud, freak, crazy - turned out to be my greatest strengths. I didn't become successful in spite of them. I became successful because of them.

I remember when I was that girl crying because I was so excited to finally meet Lita. To have girls crying over me is surreal.