WWE’s resident Ravishing Russian Lana was fired by WWE in 2021. She was released by the company amidst a series of mass redundancies, as Nick Khan took the sword to the WWE payroll despite record profits and a billion dollar Saudi Arabia deal.
Big stars like Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman and Keith Lee (former World Champions and NXT Champions, so big deals in the WWE) were let go by Vince McMahon‘s company during one of the toughest times for freelance wrestlers in history. The global pandemic meant there were very little places to work and the chances for them to make a stable income on the kneecapped independent scene were slim to none.
Lana revealed that she was called out of the blue one day by then-WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis to inform her of her release. No reason for her firing was given, and he even complimented her improvement inside the ring and claimed that her performance had nothing to do with the release. Considering other stars like Braun Strowman, who was featured heavily in the main event scene, were included in this batch, that seems like a fair thing to say and likely true.
Speaking to Chris Jericho on an episode of “Talk is Jericho“, Lana spoke about her WWE firing and said;
He’s like ‘I’m calling you about your 90 days.’ I’m like, ‘Wait, what?’ I couldn’t even understand. He’s like, ‘I’m calling you about your 90 days because you’re getting released.’ And I was literally standing right next to the pool and I was like-my heart dropped, my heart dropped.
If someone would have told me that would happen, I would have been like ‘no way’ because I love my job and I love the people I worked with. Things are shitty at times, but that’s why it’s a job. . .I go, ‘Is there anything I did wrong?’ [Laurinaitis is] like, ‘No, you’ve worked your ass off. You’ve improved tremendously in the ring. Thank you for working hard. Stay close.’
Is Lana Retired From Wrestling?
Lana has yet to return to wrestling. Her last match was on the 31st May, 2021 when Lana teamed with Naomi in defeat to Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose on Monday Night Raw. She was released by WWE on June 2nd, 2021, alongside the likes of Braun Strowman and Aleister Black.
Since then, she has not wrestled at all, leading fans to speculate if Lana has retired or simply taking a break. It has been nearly a year since her last match and there is no sign of her returning to the ring at the moment, so she may be retired.
However, the former WWE star was booked to wrestle on the failed start-up promotion Wrestling Entertainment Series’ (WES) show and was advertised to wrestle on the show up until it was cancelled. The promotion was created by former tag team The Authors of Pain was was booked for the 10,000 seat Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, a huge arena for a brand new wrestling promotion.
Under her real name of CJ Perry, the former Lana was set to take on Nia Jax, who was also released by the WWE around the same time. However, the show never went ahead and the two women were still advertised well past the time they dropped out of the show. In the end it turned out to be one giant scam and the following shows are likely never to take place.
While it does seem like she is retired, that couldn’t be further from the truth. She has since revealed that she’d “love” to work with her husband Miro again, be it in AEW where he currently works or if the pair would make a shocking return to the WWE some time in the future.
Speaking with Wrestling Inc, Lana (CJ Perry) said;
“Everything’s on the table. Nothing’s off the table. Everything’s on the table. I absolutely would love to do something with my husband. I met him working with him. There’s nothing more that I truly miss than being on the road with him and telling stories and entertaining people and making people boo us.”
“So yeah, I don’t want to put anything in the box, but I absolutely would love to tell something really compelling and interesting and engaging. And know if it’s in AEW or if it’s in WWE, I don’t put it in a box.”
Would you like to see Lana return to WWE or sign for AEW? What do you think about why WWE fired her in 2021? Tell us in the comments or click below to read about the best Royal Rumble returns ever.