'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
CJ Perry (FKA Lana) joined WWE in 2013. A former WWE Superstar recently recalled legitimately getting in trouble because of the 39-year-old during her time in developmental.
Perry spent a few months in NXT before joining the main roster in January 2014 as Rusev's manager, The Ravishing Russian. However, she did not compete in a match until 2016. In a video on his Eugene Behind The Scenes YouTube channel, former Tag Team Champion Eugene opened up about his experience coaching the former superstar during her early days in the Stamford-based company.
The 49-year-old veteran revealed that he was called to the head coach Bill DeMott's officer after Perry was severely bruised due to the "taking the buckle" drill.
Trending
"Lana, The Ravishing Russian. She was in the beginner's class, the first class that I had. I like Lana. She's a sweetheart but she didn't have a lot of experience. When she got in the ring she was a smaller girl, thin, and we were doing buckles. She would take the buckle. Everybody took the buckle. And then we take it frontwards. (...) Lana took it, bang! So, the next day, I was called into the office, Bill DeMott was the head coach and he said Lana has bruising from her chest all the way down to her arms, deep bruising."
Top name doesn't want to enter the WWE Hall of Fame. More details HERE.
Eugene claimed Perry seemingly had delicate skin. Hence, the bruises looked bad. The former champion pointed out that he was accused of being rough on the former WWE Superstar and the female talents in general.
"Now, if it's your first time in a wrestling ring, if you hit the ropes or hit the buckles, you are gonna bruise a little bit. But eventually, your skin becomes used to it. But she had, I guess one word I can think of is delicate skin and just bruised like long (...) I don't know that it hurt so much as it just looked bad. So then, that all came back on me. Why was I being so rough on the girls? Why was I being so rough on Lana? I was just like, 'Well, we're just taking buckles.'" [5:12 - 6:28]
Eugene says WWE didn't want CJ Perry to keep wrestling
After making her in-ring debut in 2016, CJ Perry competed in many matches until she was released from her contract in 2021. However, Eugene recently claimed almost everyone in WWE did not want The Ravishing One to continue wrestling inside the squared circle.
In the same video on his YouTube channel, the former coach recalled meeting Perry's ex-husband, Miro (FKA Rusev), who told him he was the only one in the Stamford-based company who encouraged her to continue wrestling.
"I think she continued wrestling in the ring but she started favoring towards the microphone, which she was phenomenal. But I would always encourage her to keep wrestling. And I'd seen Rusev [Miro] maybe couple [of] years later and he had mentioned that. One thing he said to me, he's like, 'You were the only one there that really encouraged her to keep wrestling,'" Eugene said. [6:31 - 6:51]
Perry has been rumored to return to WWE since she departed from AEW last year. It will be interesting to see if she makes a WWE comeback in the coming months.
Please credit Eugene Behind The Scenes and give an H/T to Sportskeeda if you use the above transcription.
