Lana Reveals The Story Behind Being Told About Her WWE Release

CJ Perry - formerly known as Lana in WWE - has opened up on finding out that the promotion was releasing her.

Lana was let go by WWE in the most recent round of cuts to the main roster by the company. The main roster superstar was released in a group of departures which also included Braun Strowman, Aleister Black and Ruby Riott.

Speaking for the first time about being let go by WWE, Perry has revealed how Head Of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis phoned her to inform her of her 90-day no-compete clause and that fellow superstar Mandy Rose was the first person she told that WWE had released her.

Perry also recounted how she had recently rented a place at St. Pete Beach in order to be closer to the WWE Performance Center and work, and that she was only two weeks into the tenancy when she got her release.

Speaking on the Talk Is Jericho Podcast, when asked by Chris Jericho if her release was a shock, Perry said:

"I actually got the call...let me tell a little backstory; this shows my commitment to what we do and pro wrestling.

"At the beginning of the year, I really wanted to take my family on a family vacation. I wanted to get us a house and take us to the Caribbean. I wasn’t working out, so let me rent a house on the beach in St. Pete so I will be where work is.

"I don’t have to travel as much because I’ve been travelling the entire year throughout the global pandemic, when a lot of people were just living in Florida, and I was travelling and living in a hotel room 250 days last year by myself. I didn’t have to but I wanted to give it my all. I didn’t want to get fired - I wanted to make sure I was an essential worker.

"I know, from day one, that those future endeavours can come, so I was preparing for it. So I rented this house and decided to take my family on a family vacation here, and I could train a lot more.

"I rented it for a month and two weeks in, I got a call from Johnny Ace. Crazy thing is I thought he was calling me about something completely different, because I was offered to do another television show. They went through the entire process with WWE, they approved it, and so I thought he was calling me about those details.

"He says ‘I’m calling you about your 90 days’. I’m like ‘wait, what?’ I couldn’t even understand. He’s like ‘I’m calling you about your 90 days because you’re getting released’.

"I was standing next to the pool like...my heart dropped. At the same time I felt really relieved, which was really weird because I didn’t expect to feel relieved. It was like a weight lifted off my shoulder. If someone would have told me that would happen, I would have been like ‘no way’ because I liked my job and I liked the people I worked with.

"He says ‘Stay in touch. You’ve worked your ass off.’ I go ‘is there anything I did wrong?’ He says ‘No, you’ve worked your ass off. You’ve improved tremendously in the ring. Thank you for working hard. Stay close’.

"I chuckled to myself because I’m glad it wasn’t Mark Carrano that called me, because I just see Johnny as this role. Mark kinda comes across like homies but like Ace is so corporate. He was like ‘budget cuts’ so I was like ‘okay, thank you for everything’.

"So I walk out and I was in the middle of texting Mandy [Rose] - we were texting about other things - and I’m like ‘I just got released’. She was the first person I told. I called Nattie immediately. I couldn’t even talk to Miro yet. Nattie had the same reaction. It just sucked, but at the same time I felt really relieved, because I felt like I’d been waiting for this call.

"Whatever wrestling contract I have next, if I stay in wrestling which I hope I do, I want a ‘no cut’ clause because that was the worst...living in that state of fear because you don’t know when your future endeavours is going to come."

If you use any of the quotes in the article above, please credit The Talk Is Jericho Podcast with a H/T to Cultaholic Wrestling for the transcription.