WWE has continued to make budget cuts in 2021, releasing multiple wrestlers over the past four months.
In early June, WWE surprisingly released Lana and Ruby Riott, two women who were regularly on television and in tag teams with Naomi and Liv Morgan respectively.
Tyson Kidd (TJ Wilson) is the main producer for the WWE women's division and he praised both women, especially Lana, following their releases.
"She's been improving...Lana is always that person who wants to get better at all times. She'll ask every question in the book, in a good way," Kidd said on The TWC Show. "She started working with me in September or October and she had been working hard. She was training with me last weekend. She always comes through and always working hard. Lana never shows up and doesn't work hard. Every time she shows up, she works hard and every time she says she's gonna show up, she's shown up. It's super unfortunate. I obviously don't know any backstory on stuff, budget or whatever. I'm a big fan of hers. I'm a big fan of Buddy Murphy, Aleister Black, those two had some awesome matches and you could count on it to be awesome. Ruby Riott, I'm a huge fan of. Just a cool person and a great attitude. I spend time in the guy's locker room, but I work with the girls so much that I'm going to be more biased towards them. I feel bad for all those people and I feel really really bad for Lana and Ruby. I also know they're both going to be more than okay. The truth is, I'll end up being the loser out of this by not getting to work with them at this moment. I'll work with them again. You can't tell me [Lana] is the same performer six weeks ago that she was two years ago or one year ago. You can't tell me that.
Lana would often train with Kidd and Natalya at their Hart Dungeon in Tampa. Even after her release, she was back at the Hart Dungeon.
I was a little scared to face my friends after I lost my job.But I’m so glad I picked myself up and continued my journey because I want to, not because I have to.And I only cried once!Plus I did a 970 splash but nobody saw it.@TJWilson @NikkiCrossWWE @NatbyNature @YaOnlyLivvOnce pic.twitter.com/72rlT3Keel
— CJ “Lana” Perry (@LanaWWE) June 14, 2021
As for Ruby Riott, she is making post-WWE plans, revealing her new name in a recent interview. You can find her full comments by clicking here.
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