WWE: Why AJ Lee Fits Well with Daniel Bryan

When up-and-coming star Daniel Bryan was paired romantically with diva AJ Lee on SmackDown a few months ago, many fans rolled their eyes.

Bryan had already been burdened with an awful, unconvincing romance storyline with Gail Kim, and he didn't need to be stuck in another going-nowhere, badly acted on-screen relationship that would only distract from his solid in-ring career.

Except as time has went on and the blossoming Bryan/AJ relationship has been given time to develop and grow, it has turned into one of the better and more convincing romance angles in WWE history.

And after Bryan snatched the World Heavyweight Championship from a vulnerable Big Show at the TLC pay-per-view last month, the on-screen pairing of the new champion and AJ was called upon and utilized to help get over Bryan's upcoming heel turn.

This was, of course, done in a very powerful, disturbing angle two weeks ago on SmackDown in which, during Bryan's title defense against The Big Show, the clumsy giant accidentally ran into the tiny AJ (at ringside to lend her support), while going after Bryan, leading the former NXT star to be stretchered out after being knocked out and suffering a litany of injuries.

Poor Big Show, horrified by what he had done, was completely distraught and overcome with guilt, and the show closed with him weeping as a furious Bryan blasted him for his recklessness.

Interestingly, it has been strongly hinted the AJ bump may have been entirely intentional, with the duplicitous champion setting up his girlfriend to take the fall for him (you see, earlier in the show, the infatuated AJ confessed to Bryan that she “loved him” and made it clear she would do anything for him).

The increasingly obnoxious Bryan has continued to play the victim card on follow-up episodes, as he berates The Big Show and urges him to drop out of the title scene, leading to some classic moments.

It becomes blindingly clear he is using his gullible girlfriend to further his career and has little true regard for her (“AJ says she loves me...and I...I...appreciate that,” he hilariously explained on last week's edition of Monday Night Raw).

In this respect, AJ playing the vulnerable, taken-advantage-of girlfriend, is a great sidekick for Bryan, as he continues to descend into full-blown heelishness in his determination to keep the title at all costs.

Seeing the smug Bryan treat his loyal girlfriend so poorly makes the fans resent and detest him even more, meaning that when he eventually does do his proper heel turn (possibly at this month's Royal Rumble event, when he takes on Big Show and Mark Henry in a cage match for the title), he will be the biggest bad guy on the brand.

It was not easy to make the smaller Bryan the evil heel when going against the massive behemoths like Big Show and Mark Henry, but this storyline, as well as the multi-dimensional Bryan's talents as a performer, have ensured that he has become a detested and thoroughly loathed bad guy.

The role has also greatly heightened AJ's profile in WWE. While AJ (one of the few women in WWE who had experience on the indie scene prior to being signed by WWE) has always had the personality, charm and charisma, the natural beauty has often struggled to rise to prominence in a company which seems to prioritize (surgically enhanced) good looks and physiques in their divas.

As Bryan's girlfriend, though, the former WSU star has been allowed to showcase her endearing girl-next-door personality to the masses and cement a place for herself in a company in which the women are often viewed as interchangeable and unimportant.

It also helps that, at its heart, the two simply are a very believable couple. Unlike other on-screen stilted, unconvincing romances (Santino and Beth Phoenix, Ted DiBiase and Maryse, etc), viewers are totally able to accept that these two—both self-described geeks with a love of comic books and animals—had enough in common to even get together in the first place.

Summarily, Bryan and AJ make a good fit as an couple. More often that not, romance storylines in WWE don't work, but through good, dramatic writing, enthusiastic performances and enough airtime for it to properly develop, this current pairing has surpassed expectations and added greatly to WWE's product.

Here's hoping it continues.