The Quandary of AJ

That smile is a big reason why AJ draws rave reviews, but at what cost?
Photo Credit: WWE.com

AJ is in a sticky situation. She's thrust into a storyline where her worth is pretty much decided through how many men she can get interested in her. CM Punk greets her by calling her crazy. She is a fully-formed character in a gender bracket that has either sexy cattle or bitches who should be put in their place the moment they start doing something bitchy, but that character is an extension of WWE's mindset that women are inconsequential and are only important if they're a nuisance that there doesn't seem to be a blessing in disguise hiding behind any cloak.

That being said though, she really is performing her ass off. Everything about her performance as the batty woman really shines, and she exudes star quality whether it's staring down Kane, prancing around the ring or weirding out Josh Mathews with veiled threats backstage. If they had actually let her wrestle, even if it was just to land an ineffectual kick on Daniel Bryan before being chased off by Kane, instead of just letting her offense be kiss-based, they'd get the character completely right. Hell, if they let her Sara del Rey her way with Bryan and Punk and then used her kiss to bedazzle Kane before getting in a lucky strike on him, that would be awesome, but this is WWE, and I've resigned myself to the fact that any quality intergender wrestling that didn't involve a freak of nature such as Chyna or even Beth Phoenix to an extent will have to wait for a good long time.

The quandary that arises from this is whether or not a great performance is enough to overcome the more-than-latent prejudice against the female gender in WWE. Can I comment on her effortless execution without seeming like I'm endorsing the line of thinking within Stamford and Titan Towers? This is a question that feels like it's impossible to answer. Like a three equation system with four variables, I don't have enough information, and I don't feel like I'm ever going to have enough.

The easiest answer, and maybe the biggest cop out, is that AJ would be well worthy of praise if the rest of the females on the roster got to break out of their current one dimensional shells and be something akin to the males (which isn't a step up in some cases, but bear with me here). What if Eve Torres (presented by LensCrafters) wasn't just a hoeski with convenient "assets" for John Laurinaitis to stare at? What if Beth Phoenix wasn't just someone who used to whine about wanting competition between getting rolled up by Kelly Kelly? What if Layla's mission in life was to show that even though she is far and away the most supermodel-gorgeous woman on the roster has thoughts and feelings and desires that extend beyond getting into the Maxim 100 or having Jerry Lawler make creepy comments about her tits? Then AJ of course would fit into a mold as an obvious heel or a cult heroine whose endgame would be to dupe the creme de la creme of the WWE's main event in order to escape with something greater than a boyfriend.

That being said, the way WWE is situated right now, the only thing AJ can gain out of this is a boyfriend. That's the seeming mindset of the front office, and it sucks. I can take the carrot of AJ being so good at her job that I get lost in the moment, but the social constructs of what goes on the ring just stink. They absolutely stink. I'm not sure I can wholly reconcile that fact with enjoying what she's doing in the ring if what her performance means further sets back the perception of what women have to be in mainstream wrestling.