AJ Mendez to serve as executive producer for WOW relaunch

WOW is returning to television with a familiar wrestling personality also returning to the business to help relaunch the brand. 

AJ Mendez will serve as an executive producer and color commentator for the WOW – Women of Wrestling show when it returns to TV in syndication in September 2022 on ViacomCBS stations in the United States. 

Mendez has not been involved in pro wrestling since her retirement from WWE in 2015, but she has fashioned a new career as an author, comic book writer and mental health advocate. 

WOW announced their relaunch with a press release and a press conference on Wednesday. WOW and Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, WOW and GLOW’s original creator and Buss’s business partner David McClane, Mendez, Tessa Blanchard and The Beast were all part of the presser. A trailer for the new season of WOW can be seen here.

WOW last produced content in 2019. A series of tapings in 2018 and 2019 produced a season of WOW Superheroes that aired on AXS TV. When Impact’s parent company Anthem bought AXS, that signified the end of the partnership between WOW and AXS. 

WOW began as a successor to GLOW and ran in syndication during the pro wrestling boom period in 2000 and 2001. It was dark for over a decade, then was relaunched in 2012. It has since sporadically produced content on a variety of platforms. 

The WOW release trumpets the ViacomCBS deal as the largest distribution platform in the company’s existence. 

Past seasons of WOW will be made available on CW Seed and Pluto TV channels beginning in December 2021 in advance of the relaunch, according to Entertainment Tonight.

Danni, Alex Gracia, Briana Montez, Kate Smith and Imo Akpan were other talent mentioned in the WOW press release.