Poised, Passionate and ‘Ravishing’: WWE’s Lana Talks the Art of Being A Villain, “Cosmic Sin” and More

With an Instagram following of 3.8 million, CJ Perry, better known as Lana in the WWE ring, looks like the type to grace magazine covers and hold her own on the runway with the top models in the industry. However, there is much more to this blond bombshell than just the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. Consistent hard work and dedication has transformed her from a “green” rookie who struggled to master the technical in-ring skills/presentation to a key player and mainstay in not only the most prolific and diverse era of women’s wrestling the WWE has ever seen, but in all of WWE. She may have made her mark in the wrestling ring, but with a role in the new Bruce Willis film, “Cosmic Sin”, and other films as well as regular appearances on TV and in modeling, Lana is dominating the world of entertainment. 

At the start of her wrestling career, Lana played the villainous manager-type role alongside her TV/real-life husband, former WWE superstar Rusev. As the years went by, she branched out as a singles competitor and now, most prominently, as a tag-team competitor, linked with the athletically gifted Naomi. She also trains, behind the scenes, with Natalya Neidhart, member of the legendary Hart wrestling family and her husband TJ Wilson, better known as Tyson Kidd in the WWE. Her progress is evident, and she acknowledges the work she has put in.

“I always say that I am the face of a thousand decisions that I never made,” she said. “At the end of the day, I sleep better at night knowing that I have given this my all. I have given it my sweat, my tears, my days off and I see that none of it is vain.” 

WWE’s flagship event, WrestleMania 36, was mere weeks away when COVID-19 was labeled a pandemic in March 2020. The event was taken from its original venue, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL with an expected 80,000+ fans and transferred to the WWE Performance Center at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL with no fans in attendance. WWE’s main roster did not see fans in attendance for over a year until WrestleMania 37 this past April, held at RJS in Tampa for a limited-capacity crowd. Lana got to be a part of the event, participating in a Tag-Team Turmoil match that was eventually won by now former Women’s Tag-Team champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. Her and Naomi were eliminated from the match after just a few minutes, but seeing the fans again reinvigorated her.

“For a year we had gone without them,” she said. “When the fans were taken away from me it felt like my drug had been taken away. To be with the fans again I was like, ‘Man, this is why I do this. This why I love wrestling. This is why I love WWE and performing here over all other television and film.” 

Lana has been involved in several extended storylines within WWE that, for a while, seemingly had no clear finish in sight. While the athleticism and the physical danger are very real in the world of professional wrestling, the outcomes to the matches and storylines are predetermined. A recent example was a bit in which Lana would be slammed through the announcer’s desk on a weekly basis by Nia Jax, until the tables were turned, and Lana was able to overcome Jax and send her crashing through a table instead. Another was an ongoing love triangle storyline between Lana, Rusev and current WWE Champion, Bobby Lashley. The trio’s segments were, on several occasions, the final segment on WWE’s flagship TV show, Monday Night RAW.

”I had one goal in mind going into that story,” she said. “I wanted to be so hated. I wanted to get the loudest boos in the company. I wanted to be one of the greatest villains.”

She talked about the importance of the dynamic between the face, the good guy, vs the heel, the bad guy and, without even pausing to think, impressively ticked off specific years, storylines and opponents involving her and her husband that sort of checked imaginary boxes for her. To say that I was impressed is an understatement. “People hated me during that storyline,” she continued, strong emphasis on the word hated. “My music would hit and I would get booed louder than Lashley. I remember reading things online. People were like, ‘The only thing that’s good about this story is Rusev.’ I’d sit there thinking, ‘I did my job.’ I think it is kind of a lost art in wrestling today. A lot of people are not truly hated…. they want to be the ‘cool’ villain. I just don’t think there’s a lot of money in that. You have to have the hated villains…. that’s where the money is.” 

As a music nerd, I selfishly had to ask Lana about her involvement in the now cult-classic “Pitch Perfect” films in which she was member of the Barden Bellas acapella group alongside megastars like Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson. Her dance background came into play as she assisted the choreographer and the other girls in the ensemble, even standing in for Kendrick for three weeks of rehearsal while the “Cups (When I’m Gone)” singer wrapped another film. From one hard worker to another, Lana praised Kendrick. “It was really obvious when we were working together,” she said. “Her work ethic is incredible. She was fifteen steps ahead of everyone else. We were all blown away. What everyone took three weeks to learn she showed up knowing it all.” Music continues to play a big part in Lana’s everyday life, especially music by strong women.  She features songs like “Ice Cream” by Blackpink and Selena Gomez and “Do It” by Chloe x Halle on her Instagram posts and says that her tag-team partner Naomi’s theme song, called “Amazing”, pumps her up before matches or when she’s feeling down. “Whenever I’m sad and I start listening to, ‘I’m ama-ay-ay-ay-ay-zing’ I start literally jumping in place and I’m so excited,” she said loudly, full of joy. “I’m like, ‘YES! I AM amazing!’” 

Lana appeared in three seasons of the hit reality show, “Total Divas”, on the E! Network with a plethora of fellow WWE women’s wrestlers including Brie and Nikki Bella and Naomi. For many of my friends, particularly females, “Total Divas” served up more “Real Housewives” vibes than wrestling, so it was an instant obsession. “The E! Network is a very female-driven network,” said Lana. “You have the Kardashians, you have all these reality stories that are based around relationships and women identify with that more. With ‘Total Divas’, it was our personal lives. You see our relationships with each other, with our significant others. You see the glitz and the glam, women love that.” She believes that that initial connection from the show draws female viewers over to the wrestling product. “We introduced it to them in a different kind of way,” she said. “Now they’re interested in watching RAW and Smackdown because they have become so connected to us personally. Now they want to watch us fight.” 

Most recently, Lana appeared in the Bruce Willis-led film, “Cosmic Sin”, in which she played the role of the sniper, Sol Cantos. The role of Cantos was originally written for a male but was reconfigured for Lana, who was ecstatic about the opportunity.

“Women have always been the enhancement character or the love interest or the seductress,” she said. “I felt for so long that that was the only thing we were going to be given. But now I’m starting to realize that, no! We shouldn’t settle for that. We should constantly be challenging Hollywood to give us an opportunity to audition for the same roles they are giving men. The sniper role was originally supposed to be for a man, but they were brave enough to give it to a woman and I am very, very grateful for that.”

Despite all the things Lana has accomplished thus far, she still has many, many goals left that she wants to achieve. In wrestling, she’s looking forward to working with current NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez as well as her cohort Dakota Kai down the line, but of course, she thinks bigger. “I want to become champion,” she said. “I want Naomi and I to become Tag-Team champions, too. The sky’s the limit.” Outside of WWE, of course she wants the big, notable movie roles, all the “name on the marquee” type things, but her dreams are much bigger than that.

“I want to tell compelling stories that haven’t been told,” she said. “I want to tell stories that haven’t made the history books. Stories that, maybe, weren’t politically correct. I want to tell stories of women of color, stories of people that haven’t always gotten the chance to make the history books.” 

Lana is constantly working, constantly evolving and constantly moving forward in her quest to be the best in all her ventures. “I am obsessed with what I do,” she said. “I love what I do, passionately. I love wrestling, I love storytelling, I love acting and I love performing.” With her career blossoming, it seems like Lana has it all. However, there is one critical thing that she hasn’t quite figured out yet.

“I’m still working on trying to live a balanced life,” she said. “That is, honestly, one of the hardest things to do. It is my biggest struggle.” She craves finding the time to be a loving wife, daughter, friend and so much more to the people in her life. “Relationships are really important,” she said. “The way we make people feel. Making time to spend with my family, my relationships. I think that is very vital for our health and for our life, truly.” 

You can catch Lana on Monday Night RAW every Monday at 8 p.m. on the USA Network and you can catch her recent film, “Cosmic Sin” streaming on-demand on YouTube, Google Play and Amazon Prime Video. 

Meet the Author

Noah Wade is a singer/songwriter and journalist from Long Island, New York. He is currently

pursuing his master’s degree in entertainment business, online, from Full Sail University in

Winter Park, Florida looking to one day work within the music industry. Noah began performing

in local musical theatre productions at a young age in order to combat his speech impediment

and quickly fell in love with the stage. He continued to perform in theatre throughout his

adolescence and early adult life and went on to study contemporary voice, vocal jazz and music

history. He is currently the lead singer of a cover band called Young, Hip and Cool.

Noah is a wrestling fan, music nerd and self-proclaimed concert junkie. You can follow him on

Twitter @njwade_.