Since AJ Lee announced her “retirement” from pro wrestling last Friday, the prevailing rumor is that the three-time Divas Champion had left WWE in large part due to the ongoing lawsuit by Dr. Chris Amann against her husband, CM Punk. Dave Meltzer backed up these claims in the recent Wrestling Observer Newsletter, adding that she informed the company of her departure after WrestleMania 31.

That would explain why AJ, who has heat with several names in the locker room and isn’t high on Stephanie McMahon’s list of friends, was booked to win via submission over Divas Champion Nikki Bella that night. The plan was to set her up for a title program with Nikki, but when she announced her retirement it was Naomi that ended up pinning the champ twice in as many weeks.

The idea of using “retirement” as a means to escape the remainder of a contract is one that’s been around for quite some time, and has been the subject of a few controversies within the UFC over the years. What it means is that AJ has sacrificed the ability to work anywhere else even remotely related to pro wrestling until her current WWE contract runs out.