CJ Perry Reveals Brutal Ballet Abuse Shaped Her Lana Character in WWE

CJ Perry’s time as Lana in WWE wasn’t just a performance—it came from real trauma.

The former WWE Superstar opened up on the Unwrapped podcast about how her early years in Russian ballet school left a lasting mark on her life and ultimately shaped her on-screen persona. Perry revealed that by the age of 10, she was training professionally in Latvia, where the ballet academy system was as brutal as it gets. She described the process as physically and emotionally punishing.

“They would hit us with… they would bring these sticks and come and hit us and like tell me my butt was too big. It was crazy.”

But rather than break her, Perry said the experience gave her a unique edge when she transitioned into wrestling.

“It set me up for professional wrestling. It set me up for entertainment.”

She even credits one particularly intense ballet teacher for inspiring the famous “Ravishing Russian” character fans saw in WWE. Perry said the teacher’s intense yelling became a model for how she screamed at Miro on-screen.

“I took her so much from my Russian ballet teacher because she would scream at me. And the more she believed in you, the more she would scream at you. That’s what I did with Miro… when he would be hurting and selling, I would be like screaming in Russian, ‘Get up! Get up!’ Cuz that’s what we would do.”

These stories give a whole new meaning to the intensity Perry brought to WWE television. The character of Lana wasn’t just crafted for the ring—it was built from years of pressure, pain, and performance.

CJ Perry’s journey proves that behind every great character is a story far deeper than fans might imagine. From being berated with sticks in ballet school to standing strong in a WWE ring, she turned trauma into power.

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