CJ Perry On What She Couldn't Do As Lana in WWE, Joining AEW, Miro, Promo With The Rock

CJ Perry (@thecjperry) is an actress and professional wrestling manager with AEW and she is known previously for her time in WWE under the name Lana. She joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about joining AEW alongside her husband Miro, why she took 2 years away from pro wrestling, the biggest difference between being Lana in WWE and being CJ in AEW, her famous promo with The Rock and Rusev, what fans can expect from her website cjperry.com, what it means to be "hot and flexible", the popularity of Total Divas, missed opportunities with Rusev Day and much more!

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Quote I'm thinking about:

We are going to be perpetually disappointed by life if we spend our days anticipating something greater while doing nothing to obtain it.

On debuting in AEW:

"I was really excited. I was so excited to return the wrestling and especially in Chicago. I love Chicago, I actually debuted in WWE in Chicago my first live promo was in Chicago. I can't remember the exact date but it was the beginning of March, CM Punk had just left so everyone's like are you gonna be okay there are gonna be CM Punk chants. And I feel like I held my own I with Miro and so then we did, the first time that we want Lana chants happened was in Chicago and Miro came out. At the time he was Rusev came out with a really bad Russian lawyer. And it was on my birthday and they started chanting, we want Lana. So that was cool. And my official babyface turn happened there in WWE. So it's really cool to be able to have that special moment with AEW debuting there because I love Chicago and the fans have always rooted for me so much. So it's really awesome to be able to, like have that special connection with them now with AEW as well."

Was the Chicago debut a coincidence:

"No, it definitely was not that way. It was all Tony Khan, Tony Khan wanted it in Chicago. And when I heard he wanted it in Chicago was like, Oh my gosh, that's so cool. Because I love Chicago is my favourite American wrestling city. I mean, I say that about every city, but you know, I like trying to find the silver lining of everything. So there was, Miro was pushing, a lot of this was his idea. And a lot of the story and he wanted it to be in London. But Tony really had a vision for it to happen in Chicago. And he is from Chicago, I love Chicago. And so when I heard all that, I was like, Oh my gosh, that's amazing. Because he loves Chicago, and I love Chicago. So here we go."

On possibly joining AEW at the same time Miro did:

"Well, when Miro first joined AEW I was still in WWE. So that was in 2020. And he started there September I think, and so I couldn't, I was in, in WWE still. And I had a very lucrative contract I was on and on TV every week. So we both thought it made sense for me to stay. And then I finished my time a year later. And Miro wanted me to come over to AEW, and he was plugging me into the story. And that's how I got the name hot and flexible. So I needed a little bit of a break. At the beginning. I wanted to be home for a little bit and I wanted to do things. I didn't want to jump right back on the road. And so I took a little bit like about a year, and it was just trying to figure out the time, you know, like, Tony Khan has great things going on his show, and it's just I had things going on and Miro had things and we just it's all about timing."

On the promos being better in AEW:

"Thank you. I really appreciate it. Yeah, I think it's getting a little bit more creative control. And I thank you so much because I love acting. I love storytelling. And I think at WWE I often would just for better or for worse, do what I'm told, you know. I'm not the director or the showrunner and so like sometimes people would want me a little more over the top or a little bit more annoying. And okay. And I feel like I did it very well. I was the annoying heel. And I don't think people realise like, they're like, Oh, she's so annoying. And they didn't really realise that that was a choice. You know, that's a choice. Then tried to be that egotistical, narcissistic character that thought everything was about her, you know. And so that can be annoying. So I was really happy to be able to have something that I could be a little bit more grounded."

On leaning into hot and flexible:

"Oh, yeah. So I think that Miro named me hot and flexible because he was so annoyed that I was so, I guess exploited, in WWE. And I, you know, I don't really look at it that way, I look at it as more of like, I'm thankful for the opportunity. And you know, thankful that yeah, and apparently I was believable to be someone's girlfriend, someone's wife someone's ex-wife adulterous, you know, the revenge. And it's TV, it's television, you know, and so it has to be believable. So because of that, and I was always stirring the pot of being the bad guy, the heel. In men storylines, the only way that they felt creative that they could pay off getting like punching me in the face because they couldn't punch me in the face was basically calling me like a streetwalker, like The Rock called me or an escort or, you know, all the flexible things that I did with The Rock."

On wrestling again:

"Hmm, such an interesting question. So I want to be the best of all time, I want to be the best wrestling manager of all time. I want to be when people think of like, people often want to be managed by Paul Heyman, because he is the best manager of all time right now. Right? I wanted that spot. And so I want people to be like, I want CJ Perry to manage me, I would rather do that than try to become champion or fight whatever for championships, and be the best hustler for those people to be champions, and create a legacy and a name that way. I just feel that's my calling. So if at some point I gotta like fight some bitches in the ring, of course, I'll fight some bitches in the ring."

On not using a Russian accent anymore:

"I mean, I don't know, it definitely still comes up on social media. And I'm always like, I find it so fascinating because I haven't really been starting 2016 I started talking with my normal voice on Total Divas, which was a long time ago. And then in the storyline with the Bobby Lashley story I talked with no accent and that was like really big. And that was 2019 And I'm like, Oh, I guess they haven't been watching the product much but anyway."

On meeting Miro for the first time:

“So the first day I met Miro, I don't remember and he does. So that's like. And it was at NXT. It was my first day at his first day at NXT too was when it opened. So we just hit our 10 year mark in July. So I remember him at the tanning salon the following day. And I went into the tanning salon and all the wrestlers were going there and he's clearly a big guy. And I'm like, Oh, are you a wrestler? And he's like, What? Why do you think that? I’m like because you are a big guy, and we're all coming here. I'm like, where are you from Russia, and he's like, No, Bulgaria. And I'm like, okay, cool. And then we started talking. I grew up in Latvia, I had been to Bulgaria. And then the following day, Dusty Rhodes saw my promo. I spoke Russian and he pulled me aside he goes, I want you to work with Rusanov. I was like, Who's that? Oh, I know him. And then that was we started working together the following day."

On working with The Rock:

"Oh, yeah, that was really funny. So we get a promo. Like, in the middle of the day, we were working Big Show at the time. And this is when Miro was undefeated and he was a hero of the Russian Federation. So they give us this promo, it doesn't make a lot of sense. And they're like, look at 715 meet us back by this door and this bus and you're gonna know what happens here. Like, okay, so I'm learning that we go back there. And then they open the door and it's Dwayne in there. And I'm like, wait, what? And they're like, scratch that promo. So we had 45 minutes, it was maybe an hour, we had to learn a whole new thing, but it was great. It was a lot of fun."

What is CJ Perry grateful for:

“My dogs, that I’m on this podcast and that I have returned to wrestling.”