Lana says Vince McMahon personally thanked her for her work ethic following her WWE release.
Lana was released by WWE in early June 2021. Prior to her release, she had been a featured Superstar in WWE from the moment that she debuted alongside Rusev in 2014.
When Rusev was released in 2020, Lana opened up about the depression that she suffered because she no longer had her traveling partner and best friend by her side.
Speaking about not letting anything in WWE ever make her give up on her progression, she would tell Chris Jericho on the Talk Is Jericho podcast that there were even fellow superstars who questioned how she maintains such a positive attitude about losing.
“I was determined that I was not going to quit,” Lana recalled. “No one was going to get me to quit. No nine tables were going to get me to quit. No burying me, me losing -- I could tell constantly that people we're looking at that. I'll never forget Mandy [Rose] and Dana [Brooke]. They were like, ‘Man, do you know where this is going? Do you know what's happening?’ I'm like, ‘I have no idea.’ They were like, ‘You have such a great attitude about losing,’ And it's like, well, someone has to lose. Literally, someone has to lose unless there is a DQ or something and I would rather be losing than sitting in catering and maybe that was my issue is that I was a ‘yes man’ and I was like, ‘This could be shitty and terrible story writing but I'm going to make it to the best of my ability.’”
When asked whether or not she heard from Vince McMahon, she stated that she did via a text message but that she hopes the company culture inside the degree changes with time because she would have liked a chance to physically say goodbye to all of the friends she's made through the years.
“I did. I got a text [from Vince] I definitely got emotional about it because it was just like goodbye for me, you know? He thanked me for my incredible work ethic and for my relentless desire to be the best that I could be and all of the contributions that I gave to the WWE so that really meant a lot to me. I thanked him for everything you taught me because I learned so much, I've learned so many life lessons and [lessons about performing] so I am incredibly thankful.”
She added, “The hardest part for me was the goodbye part and now it's changed a little bit, people are at least talking to each other. It used to be [where you got completely] cut off. Why? I would have liked to maybe give Vince McMahon one last hug goodbye. I would want to say goodbye to the writers. I would want to say goodbye to Ryan Ward, who I've worked with for eight years. He started with my very first promo. I want to say goodbye to these people. I don't know if I'll ever see them again. We don't know. I mean, look at Brodie [Lee] you don't know when your last day is.”
Elsewhere on the same podcast, she explained that she hopes she stays in wrestling and she would like her next contract to have a no-cut clause. Learn more here.
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