CJ Perry was released from WWE in 2021 and made her AEW debut at All Out 2023 last month.
While speaking with Fightful, Perry discussed what she was doing during her time away from wrestling and the aspects of the business that she missed. She said,
“Oh, my gosh, it was so much fun. That’s why we go, because it’s all my friends. I feel that the first year after my time with WWE, I really wanted to stay home. Like the first year I was like, ‘I wanna sleep in my own bed,’ because I hadn’t slept in my bed longer than a week, I think, in eight or nine years. I calculated I had been on a plane 800 days in those eight years. I was like, ‘Whoa.’ I have PTSD from airports. So I wanted to sleep in my own bed, have a little bit of a normal schedule. I really harnessed a lot of different skill sets I wanted to focus on and learn different things, try different things, do Surreal Life. So it was really nice to have a year break and just try to center myself. But I miss my friends and I think that was one of the hardest things about being away from the wrestling world was being away from the women’s locker room. I know there’s always rumors of horror stories, and don’t get me wrong, there is some crazy stories that happen in the locker room, but I really missed the dysfunctional family. I would get so excited. I would go and see Nattie, I’d stay with Liv. I would have so much fun with all the girls. Bayley, Nattie, Rhea, just seeing all of them would be so much fun. I realized when I went to AEW, immediately, the women’s locker room, I just felt so much better being there. Miro will never provide this energy that the women’s locker room gives me. Miro is never gonna talk that much.“
