Share. The WWE's Divas champ on the continuing evolution of her character. The WWE's Divas champ on the continuing evolution of her character.

It's been another very busy few months for the WWE's AJ Lee since I last spoke to her right before WrestleMania. In that time, she has become the Divas Champion, split from Dolph Ziggler and continued a feud with real life best fiend Kaitlyn. Minutes before she did an autograph signing for a large crowd of fans who cheered her arrival, I spoke to AJ the night before SummerSlam about the big mixed tag team match featuring her and Big E Langston vs. Ziggler and Kaitlyn at that WWE Pay-Per-View and her next steps going forward in her career.

IGN TV: So the last time I talked to you, you were saying how it’s really fun to beat up on your best friend, but things were just starting between you and Kaitlyn. So has it continued to be fun to beat up on your best friend?

AJ Lee: Yeah, I got a lot of opportunities to! I literally had the best match of my entire career and I’ll argue one of the greatest women’s matches of all time, with my best friend. I’ll never forget that. It was so perfect to have won the title from her. You couldn’t have written a better story.

IGN: Are you excited for Sunday? You go in with so much story with Kaitlyn, with Dolph….

AJ: Yeah, the really funny thing is that somewhere along the way, Dolph and I and E became really good friends, which is so weird. Especially since a year ago, I think Dolph and I actually hated each other… just for no reason! We were just like, “We’re so opposite.” Like, “He’s such a douche bag,” and he thought I was the biggest nerd. We were just mean to each other. And then to work together so much, where we are traveling together and go to dinner together and we enjoy each other’s company, it’s so funny to me. Like how did that happen? So now it’s so bittersweet that it feels like everything’s ending, you know? It feels like we’re all going to leave SummerSlam and go our separate ways, and that is the saddest thing in the world to me. But it’s really cool that three of my best friends right now in the industry will all be together at Summer Slam. That’s really cool to me.

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IGN: Are you also excited going forward though? You’ve had some really fun romantic relationship stories, but now it seems to me moving in a different direction.

AJ: It’s scary territory because, who knows, I could be gone for a little while. It might be time for some other people to step up, and I think we have a lot of girls that are doing some cool stuff right now. It might be their time to shine, and I’m okay with that. So it might be kinda cool to take a step back. But it’ll also be interesting to see what I can do on my own. I don’t think I’ve been by myself for awhile. I have E, but he’s not even allowed to be out there for my matches anymore, so I feel very much alone. It’s kind of scary to see what I can do by myself. We’ll find out.

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IGN: There was a video that made the rounds last year of you going to see Lita at a signing much like this when you were young, where you got emotional. What’s it like to be at these events and now you walk out and everybody’s cheering and people are very emotional to meet you?

AJ: Yeah, it’s so great. Any time there’s a girl crying, it reminds me of that. I’m like, “It’s just me! I’m such a loser.” I feel like I should be in line with everybody getting somebody’s autograph, because that’s what I did. I don’t know... It’s so odd that they’re there, they’re there to see me and they dress up as me! There could not be anything more surreal or gratifying, because that was the goal. I wanted you to be able to go to a mall and buy my outfit. You could literally go to a Target and get everything that I wear on TV. So that’s the coolest thing in the world to me.

IGN: You’ve been doing the heel thing very well for awhile now, but you’re still obviously really popular. So do you think those labels don’t matter as much anymore, or is it just fun for you to get to play that role?

AJ: I think it’s just… Even when I’m a good guy, I’m a bad guy. I said that at Comic-Con. I don’t know if I’ve ever done anything that was completely righteous. She’s kind of always been a douche bag, and I love that. I think it’s kind of in the eye of beholder, who’s right or who’s wrong. Right now, the fun thing is that there are shades of gray. I can see where she’s very much right in the situation with Dolph. He just had a concussion, Del Rio was pulling down his knee brace, he was going to give him another concussion, and I stepped in and tried to protect him. And then I get dumped and then made fun of every week and then speared even week and I’m not starting a fight with anyone. [Laughs] So I think that’s kind of hilarious, that I’m supposed to be the bad guy. But I like that. I like that it’s up to how you interpret it. I think that’s more fun to play, and I think people respond better when they get to make their own choices.

IGN: Before we go, I have to get in my usual "What comic books are you reading right now?" question. Any recommendations?

AJ: Ooh! I just started -- and I know I’m, like, 10 years late on this -- I started Buffy, which is so good!

IGN: The Season 8 and Season 9 stuff?

AJ: Yeah, yeah! And Lady Death, I thought that was pretty cool. It’s different than what I’m used to, but I’m so in love with Buffy, so I’m gonna digest that as much as possible.

WWE SummerSlam is available Sunday, August 18th at 5pm PT/8pm ET on Pay-Per View.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricIGN, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman.