Former WWE Star Teases Wrestling Return

By Andrew Ravens‎

Contributing Sports Writer

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CJ Perry, known to many WWE fans as Lana, recently teased a potential on-screen reunion with her former client and real-life husband, Rusev. Perry is currently under a WWE Legends deal. She has been absent from programming even though Rusev returned to the ring earlier this year.

Perry discussed a possible return to her managerial duties in a recent appearance on TMZ Inside the Ring. She also confessed that she is still considering wrestling once more.

Perry suggested that her retirement claim was exaggerated. She was let go by WWE at 36, which is why she sarcastically claimed she retired.

She clarified: “I think when I said I retired, I was being very sarcastic. Well, because they let me go at 36, so I just claimed that apparently I retired at 36. But I think that’s really young,”.

Perry said she would still love to wrestle, but she believes her greatest value to any company lies outside the ring. She noted that she adds the most value to wrestling companies by promoting their talent.

She explained: “I would love to wrestle again, but I do believe that my money pocket and what I add the most value to wrestling companies is talking and promoting their talent.”

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Perry has a clear business mindset when it comes to the wrestling world. She pointed out that promotion is the core of the business.

“At the end of the day we’re in the business of promotion and if you watch the McMahon documentary, if you watch Logan and Jake Paul talk about boxing and wrestling, we’re in the business of selling tickets and that’s why Logan and Jake are so good at what they do, because they know how to tell stories and they know how to promote and they’re really entertaining at that,” Perry stated.

Perry believes that she possesses the same valuable skill set. “I do believe that I do well at those things and Lana knows she can help Rusev,” she teased.

Lana did pursue an in-ring career during her time in WWE. She competed at WrestleMania 37 in 2021 as part of a match to determine the number one contender for the Women’s Tag Team Championship. Later that same year, she revisited her championship quest, teaming with Naomi against the then Women’s Tag Team Champions, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.

Despite her dedication to the in-ring training, championship gold unfortunately eluded her throughout her WWE career. Perry provided an honest assessment of why she never secured a title.

She said: “It was my dream to be champion, but I feel that I was always very realistic and I’m good at helping people find their money pockets, and so that, as well, with me.”

Perry entered the business facing a major experience gap with her peers. “So I was there, like 26 years old, and I’m competing against Saraya/Paige, Emma, Sasha, Bayley. Bayley was 22 and had already wrestled seven years.” The veteran stars had a long head start in their careers.

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“So, it’s like these girls who were like seven/ten years in, and they were 21, 22, 23, and I’m like ’30 is around the corner’, it’s gonna take me ten years to get really good at this.” Perry quickly adapted her ambitions to fit her greatest strengths.

“Yes, I want to wrestle, but I want to be iconically great. I’m like, there’s this, I can become iconically great.” She dedicated herself to the rigorous process of becoming a wrestler.

“So, I really went on that road, and Vince really wanted me to wrestle. I’m like okay, if you really want me to wrestle, I can move to Florida, I’ll be away from my husband and my dogs, live in a motel for 200 days in the year, train with Nattie at The Dungeon. And that’s what I did.”

She sees the lack of a championship as a life lesson in itself. “It didn’t pay off in a championship, and that’s disappointing, but I think that’s life. Not everyone wins a Superbowl and there’s so many great football players out there.”

“There’s so many great basketball players, and not everyone wins a championship. So I look at it as, hopefully, people will find that a little bit more relatable. You can still live your dreams and have a great livelihood. It’s not over until it’s over,” she concluded.

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