Former WWE star's AEW debut was in the works for "probably two years"
AEW is no stranger to picking up some of the hottest talents from around the world, including their direct competition, WWE. One of Tony Khan's recent acquisitions admitted to having their debut stored in the pipeline for about two years.
The star in question is CJ Perry (fka Lana). Miro's Hot & Flexible wife debuted for AEW at the 2023 All Out pay-per-view two years after her time in WWE ended.
It seems as though Miro spent these two years trying to get his wife into the fold over in Tony Khan's promotion. Perry told Fightful the following:
"I think it was a timing thing. This was always a discussion. Miro’s been plotting this out for a really long time, talking about his Hot & Flexible wife, for probably two years now and wanting to bring me in. It was just a timing thing. I had a lot of other things going on, a couple of different projects. It was just figuring out the timing and the timing was right. All of it was his idea, to be honest. All of it was his idea. I’m just hired talent right now." [H/T: Fightful]
It seems as though Perry is focused solely on being an on-screen manager while in AEW, as opposed to competing inside the ring. However, this is the wrestling business, meaning things could always change as her ongoing storyline progresses.
CJ Perry expresses her love for both WWE and AEW
With there being two major promotions in America, fans can often get tribalistic in their devotion to one specific company over the other. Not for CJ Perry, though. She openly discussed her love for both WWE and AEW, even while she was not actively involved in the wrestling business:
"I truly miss the wrestling world so much. Last year I would be going as a fan to WWE and AEW events just because I love the world of wrestling. So it’s really exciting to be back in the world of wrestling and it’s very exciting to work for AEW scouting talent, looking for talent to make the next champion." [H/T: Fightful]
Perry is certainly a welcome addition to the AEW team, as there are plenty of interesting stories that she can tell on the promotion's programming, especially alongside her husband.