By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Insight With Chris Van Vliet with guest CJ Perry
Host: Chris Van Vliet
Podcast available via Podcasts.Apple.com
On her AEW debut: “I was really excited. I was so excited to return the wrestling, especially in Chicago. I love Chicago, I actually debuted in WWE in Chicago my first live promo was in Chicago. I can’t remember the exact date but it was the beginning of March, CM Punk had just left so everyone’s like are you gonna be okay, there are gonna be CM Punk chants. And I feel like I held my own I with Miro and so then we did, the first time that ‘We want Lana’ chants happened was in Chicago and Miro came out. At the time, he was Rusev and came out with a really bad Russian lawyer. And it was on my birthday and they started chanting “We want Lana.” So that was cool. And my official babyface turn happened there in WWE. So it’s really cool to be able to have that special moment with AEW debuting there because I love Chicago and the fans have always rooted for me so much. So it’s really awesome to be able to, like have that special connection with them now with AEW as well.”
On not joining AEW at the same time as Miro: “Well, when Miro first joined AEW I was still in WWE. So that was in 2020. And he started there September I think, and so I couldn’t, I was in, in WWE still. And I had a very lucrative contract I was on and on TV every week. So we both thought it made sense for me to stay. And then I finished my time a year later. And Miro wanted me to come over to AEW, and he was plugging me into the story. And that’s how I got the name hot and flexible. So I needed a little bit of a break. At the beginning. I wanted to be home for a little bit and I wanted to do things. I didn’t want to jump right back on the road. And so I took a little bit like about a year, and it was just trying to figure out the time, you know, like, Tony Khan has great things going on his show, and it’s just I had things going on and Miro had things and we just it’s all about timing.”
Whether debuting in Chicago was a coincidence: “No, it definitely was not that way. It was all Tony Khan, Tony Khan wanted it in Chicago. And when I heard he wanted it in Chicago was like, Oh my gosh, that’s so cool. Because I love Chicago is my favorite American wrestling city. I mean, I say that about every city, but you know, I like trying to find the silver lining of everything. So there was, Miro was pushing, a lot of this was his idea. And a lot of the story and he wanted it to be in London. But Tony really had a vision for it to happen in Chicago. And he is from Chicago, I love Chicago. And so when I heard all that, I was like, Oh my gosh, that’s amazing. Because he loves Chicago, and I love Chicago. So here we go.”
On working with The Rock: “Oh, yeah, that was really funny. So we get a promo. Like, in the middle of the day, we were working Big Show at the time. And this is when Miro was undefeated and he was a hero of the Russian Federation. So they give us this promo, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. And they’re like, look at 7:15 meet us back by this door and this bus and you’re gonna know what happens here. Like, okay, so I’m learning that we go back there. And then they open the door and it’s Dwayne in there. And I’m like, wait, what? And they’re like, scratch that promo. So we had 45 minutes, it was maybe an hour, we had to learn a whole new thing, but it was great. It was a lot of fun.”
On potentially wrestling again: “Hmm, such an interesting question. So I want to be the best of all time, I want to be the best wrestling manager of all time. I want to be when people think of like, people often want to be managed by Paul Heyman, because he is the best manager of all time right now. Right? I wanted that spot. And so I want people to be like, I want CJ Perry to manage me, I would rather do that than try to become champion or fight whatever for championships, and be the best hustler for those people to be champions, and create a legacy and a name that way. I just feel that’s my calling. So if at some point I gotta like fight some bitches in the ring, of course, I’ll fight some bitches in the ring.”
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