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Promoting tonight’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view event, WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee addressed a series of topics in an interview published today on BleacherReport.com, including her scathing “#PipeBombshell” toward the stars of Total Divas, her recent heated interaction with Jerry “The King” Lawler at the announce desk and the meaning behind her tattoo.

In the lengthy interview, Lee reveals that she was asked to appear on the E! reality series, and declined. This led to the WWE Diva’s on-screen tirade towards the cast, since WWE chief Vince McMahon wanted her to explain why she was against the show. The New Jersey native, however, says her not jumping aboard the project was perceived the wrong way.

Lee states, “I give [the cast of Total Divas] credit. Of course on screen I’m not going to say any of that. (Laughs). I’m going to take jabs and stuff as part of the story. But I’m not a hundred percent against it.

“As a person, I couldn’t do it. The whole story is, they asked me to be on it and I told them no. And it was kind of received the wrong way. I was upset about it and there was a lot of friction between myself and the people who kind of wanted me to jump on board with this show.

“It’s not who I am. I don’t think it helps with what I’ve done so far either. It may be great for the girls who are kind of spokeswoman kind of women. That’s not my world.

“But me not jumping on board was kind of perceived the wrong way. I think Vince likes people who are really brave and quirky and like to take risks and stir the pot sometimes. And he was like “OK. She doesn’t want to be on it? Let her tell us all why.”

“No one really knew what I was going to say. So, that’s how that happened.”

Last month during an episode of Raw, Lee was involved in a heated spat with Jerry “The King” Lawler while commentating a Divas match—she sniped not being his type since she’s too young for him. The 26-year-old reveals that she doesn’t plan her on-screen remarks.

“The funny thing is I get a lot of “oh, I can’t believe they let you say that!” Everything that has been kind of controversial in the last couple of weeks has been 100 percent from my mind. It’s just been me saying “Let’s see how much trouble I can get in,” Lee said.

“When you do commentary you don’t really plan anything. I watch my matches back and Jerry Lawler rubs me the wrong way. The way he talks about the girls and me in particular. As a character I feel like she wouldn’t like him. So, I went out there thinking “I’m ready to fight any of you.

“You can’t really plan what you are going to say, but I’m kind of a smart a**. I like to jab. That’s who I am. I went out there and they were all sort of attacking me and I was not prepared for that. So I kind of went into smart a** mode. And it happened. (Laughs).

“We never talked about it, but I think it was fine. It was just a fun little jab I think.”

In early September, Lee tweeted an image of a tattoo she got on the back of her neck to commemorate the date she won the belt (June 16, 2013). Contrary to popular belief, the mark “wasn’t just about winning the title.” She explains, “I lived in a car. I lived on the street, I lived in a motel. My whole life I always believed I wouldn’t be in this situation any more. I’m going to be in WWE and I’m going to be the champion.

“That was the light at the end of the tunnel. That made me not lose my mind and not give up. To achieve those goals was all kind of dream sequence. To have the opportunity Kaitlyn and I did, a 20-minute match and everything so absolutely perfect. I had imagined it as a kid and it all came true in real life.

“I kind of made the tattoo look like a prison tattoo. I was like a prisoner serving time. To me it was like I finally accomplished something and it was time served. Fourteen years of trying to get here. I made it out of a dark past. That’s what it means to me. It just happens to be the date I won the title. That was the ultimate goal.

“I think that’s the only tattoo I’ll ever get. I probably won’t get a matching one the day I lose it. (Laughs).”

Tonight at WWE Battleground, the Divas Championship will be on the line as AJ Lee defends the butterfly-emblazoned belt against Brie Bella. Promoting the bout on the WWE App, Natalya and Eva Marie spoke to Tom Phillips, where they announced that they are rooting for their Total Divas co-star in her match against Lee. During the interview, Eva Marie rattles the third-generation wrestler with her proclamation that she could be the No. 1 contender—Eva Marie has competed in one match thus far, a non-televised tag team bout at SummerSlam Axxess in August.

Natalya said, “I’m actually really excited to see what’s going to happen at Battleground. As much as I wanted to be the No. 1 contender for the Divas Championship, I’m happy that Brie is going to get a chance to make a stand against AJ and really put her in her place for all the things she’s done to us Total Divas. I am looking forward to AJ getting beaten.”

Eva Marie then remarks, “Now Nattie, I know you want to be No. 1 contender. I know you’re a little hurt that you’re not in Brie’s spot right now, aren’t you? I mean let’s be honest, I think I can be No. 1 contender, but I’ll be rooting for Brie.”

Natalya snaps back, “Yeah, you really could be No. 1 contender. I’d like to see you do a headlock takeover first.” Eva Marie responds, “Absolutely, no problem. I’m just being honest.”

Natalya then resumes talking about the match: “What we’re trying to say is that all us Total Divas are excited about seeing AJ Lee without the Divas Championship on Sunday at Battleground. If it’s Brie Bella that does it, then so be it.”

WWE added Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella and The Great Khali to tonight’s Battleground pay-per-view because of timing issues. Once they laid out the show with the planned match lengths, they realized they still had a significant amount of time left. The call was then made to announce the tag match.

While CM Punk is dealing with nagging injuries and Ryback is limited to his in-ring work, the plan is for their match at Battleground tonight to still receive a decent amount of time. Plans call for Punk and Paul Heyman’s feud to keep going past tonight.

Josh Mathews, Tensai, Titus O’Neil and The Miz will host the Battleground pre-show tonight. The panel will also likely make an appearance on the pay-per-view.

Eva Marie noted on Instagram that E! was filming for Total Divas ahead of tonight’s Battleground pay-per-view and posted this photo:

Here’s the final card for tonight’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view from Buffalo, New York. Remember to join us for live coverage beginning at 7:30pm EST with the Kickoff Pre-show.

WWE Title Match
Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton

Battleground Hardcore Rules Match for the World Heavyweight Title
Rob Van Dam vs. Alberto Del Rio

WWE Divas Title Match
Brie Bella vs. AJ Lee

WWE Intercontinental Title Match
R-Truth vs. Curtis Axel

Goldust and Cody Rhodes with Dusty Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns
If Goldust and Cody win, they get jobs. If they lose, they can never work for WWE again and Dusty Rhodes will lose his developmental job.

Grudge Match
Ryback vs. CM Punk

Bray Wyatt vs. Kofi Kingston

Kickoff Pre-show Match
Dolph Ziggler vs. Damien Sandow

You can watch the free kickoff show below