CJ Perry, best known for her time in WWE as Lana, has responded to some fans being unhappy that she has signed a legends deal with the company.
The former Lana was predominantly used as a valet for her husband Rusev during her time with WWE, but also competed in matches before her 2021 release and was also involved in a number of romantic storylines with talent. Following her release, Perry appeared in AEW under her real name and was involved in storyline with Rusev, who competed in AEW as Miro, but was only a valet and did not compete in any matches for All Elite Wrestling.
Rusev made his return to WWE on the Raw after WrestleMania, and has been prominently featured on the red brand since. While Perry has yet to make an onscreen return, she has re-signed with the promotion under a legends deal, which allows her to use her WWE name for appearances, along with her likeness being utilised as part of future video games, action figures and merchandise. However, as Perry did not find a huge amount of success in the promotion in terms of championship accomplishments, some took offence to the term legend being used to describe her relationship with the company. Aware of the discourse, Perry clarified the deal and how mad some fans were.
“It’s Been Kind Of Controversial”: CJ Perry On WWE Legends Deal
While speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Perry noted that some fans were mad at the fact that she was a WWE legend, while others came to her defence. The former Lana also added that she was very aware that she is not on the same level as other legends, and that it is simply what the company refers to their contracts as:
“I’m still processing it. It’s funny, because I would say it’s been kind of controversial. One of the biggest things that I had on my podcast last week was announcing that I’m a WWE legend, and you thought I stole their Christmas presents or something, people were so mad. People were like, it’s a stretch, and they’re fighting, and then other fans are coming in and defending me. So I just want to acknowledge I understand, I was that shocked too. I absolutely understand that there’s a huge difference between the character Lana and Randy Savage on the legend scale. I get it, but this is what WWE calls their contracts, being a full WWE superstar. My agent called me. I was crying. I was shocked. Yeah, they gave Miro a contract, and they gave me the WWE legend contract at the same time.”
With Perry playing a Russian during her time in WWE and her character being supportive of Vladimir Putin, this also caused backlash from online fans. During the interview, Perry spoke about her and her family being targeted by abusive comments because of the charatcer she played:
“It was insane. People booing you, in comments, people telling you to go back to Mother Russia, it was crazy. I think I did notice a lot of hate. Partly the reason why I don’t post on my family on social media too much is because I would post it like my little nephew, and people would just come for the child, like, ‘Move back the Russia, you stupid child.’ I was like, Oh my God, that’s so inappropriate right now. So you know, I have to just remember I’m that character. It’s kind of like Game of Thrones. Everyone hated the king or Cersei, right? And people see us as that character. They don’t see me as CJ with my little nephew. They see me as the evil Lana who’s being mean to their children in America. So we’re going to be mean back.”
Perry is currently focused on her new podcast, Identity Crisis, and has not made any pro wrestling appearances since being released from AEW at the end of 2023.
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Featured image: WWE
