CJ Perry played the role of an on-screen import from Russia who eventually became one of the highlights of WWE’s women’s division. While many mainstay performers struggled to find space on TV, she was an entertaining persona that WWE regularly featured on TV even on the week of her release from the company. This was despite her lack of wrestling background or skills.
After staying away from the pro-wrestling scene for more than a couple of years, CJ Perry was re-introduced to wrestling fans on AEW programming as the “hot and flexible” wife of former AEW TNT Champion Miro during the All Out pay-per-view. The idea of this reintroduction was pitched by none other than Miro and he had his reasons behind the angle.
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In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, CJ Perry stated that this particular “hot and flexible” branding was born out of the famous promo where Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson claimed in an episode of 2016 that he had spent a night with the former WWE Superstar in a backstage segment.
“I think that Miro made me ‘hot and flexible’ because he was so annoyed that I was so exploited in WWE,” CJ Perry explained. “I don’t really look at it that way. I look at it as more, I’m thankful for the opportunity.”
While living up to WWE’s theme of serving sports entertainment during the Vince McMahon-era, CJ Perry always had this easy-going nature where she played a manager, girlfriend, wife, or even an ex-wife who had an extra-marital affair with another star. These roles certainly made her more acceptable in roles that need her to be less involved in a physical capacity.
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CJ Perry differentiates the approach between WWE and AEW
During the conversation, CJ Perry stated that many fans assumed that’s how she was in real life while being in the WWE but they failed to realize that she was simply playing a character on TV. Back then WWE used to control her but in AEW, she has more creative control over her presentation. This is what she has to offer regarding the difference between WWE and AEW,
“You go and you watch John Cena or The Rock or a lot of WWE-style promos, they are slower, especially live. And it’s because they’re trying to get the whole arena to get as loud as possible. … I personally feel that that style in WWE … is what is losing the younger demographic, and I think AEW has a faster-paced match style, [and] a faster-paced promo style. It’s very natural, it’s very organic.” (quotes courtesy Wrestling INC)
CJ Perry continued the explanations by saying that the perspectives of WWE and AEW are very different, just as any other two TV shows on different networks. AEW puts tons of focus on matches while WWE emphasizes entertainment but the common need for both promotions is to have the ability to bring more compact storylines on TV.
