Lana, who is best known for her time with the WWE, spent eight years with the company. “The Ravishing Russian” joined the promotion in 2013 and was released in 2021. She recently reflected on her journey with the WWE and stated that she had a really tough time working there, and went as far as to say that she was “brainwashed” by the toxic environment in the company.
Lana, who now goes by CJ Perry, shared her mental health struggles in a candid message posted on her Instagram for her birthday. She revealed that she allowed her work at WWE to define her identity and self worth. Lana said she can’t believe how far her life has come since leaving WWE.
In her message which she posted to reflect on her journey, she also thanked several co-workers from WWE who helped her when she was down. She named Liv Morgan, Natalya, and Tyson Kidd, and mentioned her best friend Naomi too. You can read Lana’s message below:
Lana was released from the WWE as part of the trimming costs from WWE’s budgets back in June. Apart from her, Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Ruby Riott, Santana Garrett, and Buddy Murphy were also released at the same time. While the other names have remained in wrestling, Lana has moved on from the ring. In the post she has mentioned that she did two movies in the past year. Her movie with Bruce Willis, “Cosmic Sin”, won a Razzie award too.
Lana revealed that after she got released from the company, she had received a text from Vince McMahon, thanking her for her incredible work ethic:
“I did. I got a text; I definitely got emotional about it because it was a slight goodbye for me. He thanked me for my incredible work ethic,
And for my unrelentingly desire to be the best that I could be and all the contributions I gave to WWE. So that really meant a lot to me,” said Lana, “and I thanked him for everything that he’s taught me because I learned so much.”