Lana (wrestling)

Catherine Joy "C.J." Perry (born March 24, 1985) is an American actress, dancer, model, professional wrestling manager, professional wrestler, and singer currently signed to WWE under the ring name Lana, performing on the Raw brand as the manager of her real-life husband Rusev.

Early life

The eldest of four siblings, Perry was born in Gainesville, Florida,^[7] to parents of Portuguese and Venezuelan descent.^[8] She spent several years of her childhood in the Latvian SSR, where her father worked as a Christian missionary.^[7][8] Perry and her family remained in Latvia after it restored its independence from the Soviet Union in August 21, 1991. From an early age, Perry aspired to become a ballet dancer like her mother. She attended the Riga Choreography School (the ballet school of the Latvian National Opera) and began dancing with the Latvian National Ballet at the age of 14.^[1][7]

At the age of 17, Perry returned to the United States. She initially lived in New York City, where she danced at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Hispanico, Broadway Dance Center, and the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. Perry later enrolled in Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, Florida, majoring in dance and acting.^[2][7]

While attending FSU, Perry began attending Florida State Seminoles football games with Jenn Sterger and several other students, cheering from the bleachers while dressed as "cowgirls". The students, known as the Florida State Cowgirls, entered the public consciousness after being acknowledged by commentator Brent Musburger during a game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes that aired on ABC in September 2005, with Musburger quipping "1,500 red-blooded Americans just decided to apply to Florida State".^[9][10][11]

Perry parlayed the exposure into a modelling career, appearing in photoshoots in publications such as the RIDGID Tool Calendar and working as a spokesmodel for the energy drinks Matrix and Red Bull.^[7] Upon graduating from FSU, she relocated to Los Angeles, California with the aim of working in show business

Professional wrestling career

In June 2013, Perry revealed that she had been signed to WWE and was sent to their developmental branch NXT.[15] She debuted on the October 23, 2013 episode of NXT, under the ring name Lana, scouting Alexander Rusev during his match against CJ Parker.[6] On the November 6 episode of NXT, Lana became Rusev's "social ambassador", using a Russian accent and developing a character who majored in Foreign Affairs and Business and Social Media Marketing in college.[16] In December 2013, the duo of Rusev and Lana were compared to Ivan and Ludmilla Drago, the antagonists of the 1985 film Rocky IV.[17][18] Rusev and Lana later appeared at NXT Arrival, where Rusev attacked Xavier Woods and Tyler Breeze.[19]

While Rusev made his main roster debut at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 26, 2014,[20] Lana made her main roster debut on the January 31 episode of SmackDown, where she and Rusev in the following weeks appeared in a series of self-promotional videos and speeches.[21][22][23] Rusev wrestled his first match on the main roster on the April 7 episode of Raw, squashing Zack Ryder.[24] In early May, Lana began dedicating Rusev's matches to her "hero", President of Russia Vladimir Putin, as well as adopting an anti-American, Russophilic gimmick.[25][26]

Lana made some controversial comments during an in-ring promo prior to Rusev's match against Jack Swagger at the Battleground pay-per-view event, blaming the United States for current world events and praising Putin. Although she did not directly mention it, some media outlets said Lana was making reference to the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which happened three days before Battleground, to help build heat for Rusev in his feud against Swagger.[27][28] A representative of WWE later told TMZ that the segment was not specifically about the Malaysia Airlines crash, noting that the Rusev-Lana storyline "has been a part of WWE programming for more than three months. WWE apologizes to anyone who misunderstood last night's segment and was offended".[29]

Lana holding the United States Championship at WrestleMania 31 in 2015

Following the November 3 episode of Raw, Rusev defeated Sheamus in a WWE Network exclusive match to capture the United States Championship.[30] At Fastlane on February 22, 2015, Lana set up a distraction which led to Rusev defeating John Cena;[31] however, at WrestleMania 31, Rusev lost the championship to Cena after Rusev accidentally crashed into Lana, knocking her off the ring apron.[32]

On April 26, 2015, at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, during Rusev's rematch for the United States Championship against Cena in a Russian Chain match, Lana garnered a positive reaction from the crowd, which led to Rusev banishing her from ringside.[33] It happened again, on May 17, at Payback, when Cena defeated Rusev in an "I Quit" match after Lana quit on Rusev's behalf.[34] The following night on Raw, Lana justified her actions by explaining that Rusev said he quit in Bulgarian, only for him to harshly dismiss her; later that night, Lana kissed Dolph Ziggler, turning her face and officially ending their association.[35][36] On the June 29 episode of Raw, Lana and Ziggler confirmed their storyline relationship, and Rusev allied with Summer Rae.[37] Week later, Ziggler was injured by Rusev, who attacked Ziggler by hitting his throat,[38] and WWE subsequently announced that Ziggler had suffered a bruised trachea in storyline.[39] Ziggler returned on the August 17 episode of Raw, aiding Lana during a confrontation with Rusev and Rae.[40] This altercation prompted a match between Ziggler and Rusev at SummerSlam, on August 23, which ended in a double count-out due to interference from Lana and Rae.[41] Rae went on to "seduce" Ziggler in order to end his relationship with Lana,[42][43] but the storyline ended quietly, after WWE announced that Lana had injured her wrist while training.[44]

On October 11, TMZ reported that Lana had gotten engaged to Rusev,[45] which Lana confirmed.[46] Lana made her return, once again as a villainess, on the November 30 episode of Raw, during a Miz TV segment, where she and Rusev referenced their engagement. Before going on another hiatus from television for unknown reasons, Lana appeared on the January 25, 2016 episode of Raw, during a segment alongside The Rock.[47]

Lana wrestling Natalya at a live event in April 2016

Lana returned on the February 29 episode of Raw, confronting Brie Bella during a backstage segment, arguing that Brie's fans only supported her out of pity for having a "bad husband",[48] and, on the March 3 episode of Main Event, she appeared during Brie's match to distract her, in a failed attempt.[49] Lana continued with her attempts to distract and attack Brie during the March 7 episode of Raw and the March 10 episode of SmackDown, by executing Brie's finishing maneuver on her.[50][51] On the March 14 episode of Raw, she once again distracted Brie during a tag team match against Team B.A.D. (Naomi and Tamina), causing her to lose, and aligned herself with Naomi and Tamina, following a backstage confrontation with Paige.[52] On the March 22 episode of Main Event, she brought the returning Emma and Summer Rae to her guild, reconciling with Rae in the process.[53] After a match between Emma and Paige on the March 28 episode of Raw, Lana and her allies attacked Brie Bella, Natalya, Alicia Fox and Paige, before they were saved by Eva Marie.[54] As a result, the two teams faced off in a 10-Diva tag team match at the WrestleMania 32 pre-show, in what would be Lana's in-ring debut, which her team (dubbed Team B.A.D. & Blonde) would lose.[55][56]

On the April 25 episode of Raw, Lana returned to managing Rusev,[57] and was at ringside when he captured the United States Championship for the second time at Extreme Rules.[58] After being drafted to Raw as part of the 2016 WWE draft which took place on July 19,[59][60] Lana made her first appearance for the brand on August 1, where she accompanied Rusev in a match for the United States Championship against Mark Henry, in which he successfully defended his title.[61] After Rusev's and Lana's wedding celebration was usurped by Roman Reigns, Rusev was set on another match for the United States Championship against Cesaro, in which he successfully defended the title before being speared by Reigns on the August 8 episode of Raw,[62] and one week later on the August 17 episode of Raw, he competed in a non-title match for Lana's honor against Reigns, in which he was defeated.[63]