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. ”