CJ Perry has provided new insight into her husband Rusev’s decision to leave AEW and return to WWE earlier this year. Speaking on a new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Perry addressed the frustrations Rusev faced during the end of his five-year tenure with AEW. She noted that the period where he was kept off television was “really hard” for him, as his primary goal was to be an active competitor rather than sitting on the sidelines.
Perry explained that while she is often hesitant to speak for her husband to avoid social media controversy, the core issue was his desire to work.
“Both him and I love telling stories, and WWE is a storytelling factory. And he is incredible at what he does. He’s the ‘Super Athlete.’ He loves playing a villain. He loves, absolutely loves WWE-style storytelling,” Lana said. “And so I think it was — and he wanted to wrestle every week on TV. That was a big thing for him. He loves wrestling. It wasn’t about a check for him. So it was like, yeah, maybe he made more money at AEW or something, but he wanted — it was more important for him to get out there and be wrestling, it was really hard for him to not be working.”
Since returning to WWE, Rusev has been thrust back into competitive action. He recently participated in the “Last Time Is Now” tournament to determine John Cena’s final opponent. Rusev defeated Damian Priest in the opening round but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Jey Uso. The tournament has since progressed to the finals, where Gunther will face LA Knight on SmackDown this Friday to decide the winner.
In addition to Rusev’s return, Perry confirmed that she has also re-signed with the company under a WWE Legends contract. While she has not yet appeared on television since signing the deal, she noted that she is always ready for the opportunity should it arise.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can listen to the podcast on all major streaming platforms.
