CJ Perry was getting so much heat as Lana in WWE that Vince McMahon eventually decided she needed to talk less. The former WWE Superstar revealed that McMahon deliberately reduced her speaking role because Rusev wasn’t getting enough negative crowd reactions, and the decision ended up opening the door for her eventual babyface turn.
While speaking with Wrestling with Heart with Stanley Karr, Perry looked back at her time managing Rusev during his rivalry with John Cena. Lana had become one of WWE’s most recognizable villains thanks to her outspoken Russian character, but Perry explained that her ability to get under the audience’s skin was actually creating a problem for the storyline.
According to Perry, McMahon wanted Rusev to become the bigger villain because he was the one stepping into the ring against Cena. While Lana could generate reactions through her promos, Rusev needed to carry more of that heat himself for the rivalry to work the way WWE wanted.
“And I think that the hindsight, you know, you always hindsight is always better view of it all, right? Hindsight I think that Vince wanted it was almost his way of giving me something because he wanted the focus more of the beat on the Rusev against John Cena because I would get a lot of heat and at the end of the day I’m not the person resolving the ring against John Cena. Rusev is resolving it and so you have to have more heat on the leading character. The leading villain has to have the most heat because he is the one fighting the babyface.”
Perry explained that the situation was also complicated by the limitations WWE had when it came to physically paying off Lana’s actions as a villain. Unlike a male manager such as Paul Heyman, who could occasionally take an Attitude Adjustment from Cena or participate in a physical confrontation, Lana’s character couldn’t receive the same kind of punishment during that era.
That ultimately led McMahon to make a creative adjustment. Perry recalled that around October or November, during Rusev’s involvement with Big Show, McMahon started telling her to cut back on her dialogue so Rusev could handle more of the talking.
“So, I I remember Vince started telling me, ‘Okay, we need a we need to lessen your verbage a little bit.’ This was around Big Show, this is probably around October, November, and put it more cuz Rusev needs to talk more. We need to get more heat on him. And little did I know that setting me up for the babyface turn because all it needed to be a little more on him, a little less on him me”
What Perry didn’t realize at the time was that reducing her role would eventually create an entirely different reaction from the audience. She recalled being absent from television for a week when Rusev appeared with a lawyer from Chicago instead. The replacement didn’t exactly go over the way WWE expected, and the crowd made it clear who they wanted to see. Perry said the audience began chanting for Lana, and the reaction caught McMahon’s attention.
“And um the one week the first week I was gone he brought his lawyer from Chicago. I don’t know if you remember that. And the lawyer had such a bad accent, and this is not Joe Hendry in Scotland. This is in Chicago, another lawyer, awful accent, and they started chanting, ‘We want Lana.’ And I was never one world trend, ‘We want Lana.’ And that’s when Vince was like, ‘Oh.’ had an the first idea of turning me babyface.”
The situation became even more interesting as WrestleMania 31 approached. Perry revealed that McMahon had offered her a WWE Studios movie alongside Edge, leaving her concerned that she could miss Rusev’s United States Championship match against Cena. She said her place at WrestleMania remained uncertain until approximately five days before the event, when Rusev personally approached McMahon and pushed for her inclusion.
“And then Vince had to decide if he was going to put me in WrestleMania or not. And I come back and literally it was like 5 days before I still didn’t know, and then Rusev went and he was like, ‘I really think that she should be a part of the act, you know, cuz we’ve done it the whole year.’ And he was, ‘Okay, if you feel that way, then let’s do it, you know?’ He’s like, ‘I I I I agree with you.'”
Lana ultimately accompanied Rusev for his memorable tank entrance at WrestleMania 31, although Cena defeated him to capture the United States Championship. The partnership continued afterward, with Lana eventually moving into a babyface role as WWE explored tension between the two characters.
Perry’s experience also connects to the difficulties Rusev faced with WWE management in later years. As Ringside News previously covered, Rusev and Lana discussed having to fight for their positions in WWE, including their willingness to approach McMahon directly with creative ideas.
Looking back, Perry’s revelation shows how WWE’s attempt to make Rusev a more intimidating villain ended up making Lana even more popular. McMahon wanted her to take a backseat so Rusev could generate more heat, but the moment she disappeared from television, the audience started demanding her return. Sometimes the one character WWE tries to pull back becomes the person everyone wants to see.
Do you think Vince McMahon made the right decision by reducing Lana’s speaking role to give Rusev more heat, or should WWE have continued letting her carry their promos? Let us know what you think in the comments section below and leave your feedback.
