CJ Perry On How Miro Reacted To Ultimatum Vince McMahon Gave Her

CJ Perry, formerly known as Lana while in WWE, began her professional wrestling career as a manager for her real-life husband Rusev, now known as Miro in AEW.

"The bottom line is Vince wanted me to wrestle," Perry said, appearing on "The Sessions with Renee Paquette." "... Vince called us into the office, and this was after [Miro and her] had split up because he was adamant. He was like, 'You cannot be with Rusev anymore.' When the "we want Lana" chants started, he was like, 'That's it. You have two choices: we can either do a relationship story, or you're going to have to go back down to NXT to learn how to wrestle.' ... I was like, 'I'll do a relationship story; that's cool.'

"So that started, and then a month and a half in, he brings Summer [Rae] in. We had no idea, and Miro is like, 'Why? What's happening?' And he's like, 'Well, we're going to have a match,' and Miro didn't want me to wrestle. He's very old school, and then he marries me — God bless him. Yeah, he's very traditional, and he's like — he just gets worried. He doesn't want me to get hurt."

Perry was the manager of Miro while he was in "NXT" and on the main roster when The Bulgarian Brute was finding success, defeating Sheamus for the United States Championship. Miro would hold the United States Championship until WrestleMania 31, losing it to John Cena in a match where Miro arrived in a tank.

Perry wound up having her first ever professional wrestling match on the pre-show of WrestleMania 32 alongside Emma, Naomi, Summer Rae, and Tamina, losing to the team of Brie Bella, Eva Marie, Paige, Alicia Fox, and Natalya. Perry would go on to have her first televised singles match against Naomi over a year later at Money in the Bank 2017 in an attempt to win the Smackdown Women's Championship. Naomi walked away with the win; however, Perry would go on to have four more championship matches while with WWE, losing two more to Naomi and two to Asuka.

Later in the interview, Perry revealed advice given to her by the new head of creative, Triple H, and what one of the co-CEOs of WWE, Stephanie McMahon, told her.

"[Triple H] told me, 'Never stop training,'" Perry said. "So that whole year, I had been training, getting in with Fit, getting in with Goldust ... [Triple H] was like, 'Trust me ... one day Vince is going to wake up and be like, 'Well, it's time for Lana to have a match. Let's do it.” He's like, 'You want to be ready.' Then I talked to Stephanie, and Stephanie is like, 'At the very least, know how to bump. Know how to take falls. Know how to take basic hits.'"

Perry was released from WWE in early June of 2021 alongside stars such as Aleister Black, who has since found a home in AEW as Malakai Black, and Braun Strowman. Perry has not wrestled since her release came in WWE, last competing against Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose while teaming with Naomi in a match won by Brooke and Rose on the May 31st, 2021 edition of "WWE Raw."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Sessions and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription