AJ Mendez is excited for WOW: Women of Wrestling to kick off later this year.

Former WWE Superstar AJ Mendez was the latest guest on Wrestling with Freddie to discuss a variety of subjects. During the podcast, Freddie Prinze Jr. revealed that he initially tried to help LA Lakers owner Jeannie Buss get WOW off the ground but ran into one brick wall after another. AJ Mendez said she was brought in at the end of the Viacom deal, so full credit has to go to Jeannie and David McLane for getting the deal done.

“I’ve got to give all that credit to Jeannie and David. I was brought on at the end of that,” AJ Mendez admitted. “So they really did all the hustling and figured out the right home. What I’ve understood is that those brick walls continued, and she just really believed in this, and what I so appreciate about her vision is that she wants it to be a family-friendly show that everyone can sit down and watch on Saturday morning. And that is such an old-school vibe that I connected to. I just remember being really little, and the only posters they had of the female wrestlers were in bikinis in the magazines. So just the idea of like giving a younger generation this that sort of like wholesome superhero types lean.”

AJ Mendez also revealed that the show would begin shooting soon and believes the relaunch of WOW is a “new beast” compared to the one we had seen before.

“So we’ll actually be shooting pretty soon. I think we’re maybe 60 days out,” AJ Mendez revealed. So it’s getting kind of close. We’re going to begin syndication in the fall of 2022. Please check out wowe.com for your local listings. But also on the CW Seed app and the Pluto app. But what really inspired me to join WOW was the idea that it was women behind the scenes in every capacity and women in front of the camera in every capacity. And to me, I love wrestling, and I never stopped loving wrestling. This was like the perfect way to rejoin the world of wrestling but also combine it with what I’m doing now and what I have a passion for now.

“And so I’ll be executive producer alongside Jeannie and David McLane, which is mind-blowing. And when I talk to her on the phone, she really just kind of laid it out there like what she wants us to be and what the vision is, and then also left a lot of space for what I want it to be or what I could bring to the table and I really appreciate that too. I just think that’s the right way to start something. We know that people know what the product is, or they know what it was before, but this is going to be a new beast. And we’re really excited about that, and it’s a great group of women. And  somewhere along the way, I just kind of got inspired to say, okay, I’m also gonna do color commentary.”