CJ Perry On Crowd Reactions In Pro Wrestling: “I Love Being Booed”

Former WWE superstar CJ Perry (formerly known as Lana) has shared how much she loved crowd reactions in pro wrestling, especially when it came to getting booed.

Fans of WWE got to know CJ Perry pretty well during her run as Lana starting in 2013 as an NXT talent who would later join Rusev on the main roster in early 2014. The “Ravishing Russian” Lana character had some controversial moments like when she would call Russian President Vladimir Putin her “hero” to get some heat or when she cheated on Rusev to be with Bobby Lashley.

As Perry got more experience in WWE, she started to wrestle more and would end up challenging for titles. She didn’t win any titles, but she did improve a lot as a performer. In June 2021, Lana was released by WWE.

During an interview with Fightful, Lana explained how being in front of pro wrestling is like nothing else while adding that there’s no better feeling than being able to control a crowd.

“There’s no drug in the world like it. It’s the biggest adrenaline high you’ll ever get, at least for me. There’s nothing more than I love. Of course, if they’re chanting your name, it’s insane. Whole arenas chanting for you is just mind blowing. I’m always so honored that people would do that. But I also love being booed. There’s no better feeling than being able to control a crowd that you can get them to do exactly what you want them to.”

“It’s definitely easier, for at least me, and that might be because I lot to stir the pot and it’s funny to me to get people get all riled up. So I feel like wrestling is perfect because then I can lean into it and commit to it. ‘Okay, yeah, hate me. Bring it on.’”

“I feel like, in wrestling, sometimes people want to be the cool heels and they don’t want to commit to being like, ‘No. Hate me. I’m gonna make you money because someone’s gonna want to whoop my ass.”

Perry went on to explain that she misses performing in wrestling a lot.

“I learned a lot of that from Miro, too. He was such a great teacher for me and the psychology of storytelling and the psychology of being a villain. I always say there’s no greater villain than Miro and so, yeah, I’m thankful for that. I do miss that. I miss it a lot. I miss performing, I miss the fans. There’s no better feeling than being able to get that screen time where you are connecting with the fans, you’re connecting with the fans and you’re provoking an emotional reaction. It’s great. I miss it.”

Recently, CJ Perry also spoke about the possibility of returning to WWE some day or maybe going to AEW where her husband Miro works.