CJ Perry Recalls Kissing Dolph Ziggler In Front of Rusev, Practicing In Front of Vince McMahon

CJ Perry recently looked back at her on-screen kiss with Dolph Ziggler on WWE TV and how they had to practice it in front of Vince McMahon. The moment happened on the May 18th, 2015 episode of WWE Raw when Perry (as Lana, of course) was feuding with Rusev. She kissed Ziggler in front of Rusev to officially split with him on TV. Ziggler (now Nic Nemeth) has said in the past that it was an awkward experience for him, particularly practicing it in front of McMahon.

Lana was asked about the moment in an interview with Ring the Belle. She noted that McMahon saw it as an empowerment story and that she felt that way as well. You can see the highlights below:

On The Kiss Seeming Like It Was Her First Time:

“Oh my god, that is so funny you say that, because that’s exactly the vibe we were going for. Yes, yes, that’s exactly what Vince wanted. He wanted it to look like, ‘This is my first kiss ever.’ And that was all predicted… [the ‘One More Time’ chant]. So Vince wanted that. Vince was like, ‘Wait, wait.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, ideally they’re going to start chanting.'”

On Slapping Rusev:

“I love slapping Rusev… You see that face right there was like, ‘You’re not going to tell me what to do. You’re not going to send me to mother Russia. No, I’m the boss, bitch. I tell you what to do’… So I came back with a lot of revenge. And Lana knew what was going to hurt the character Rusev the most, and that was bringing the most American man out and kissing him.”

On Developing a Stronger Fanbase Out of That:

“Yeah, I’m very thankful for that, because I remember the girlies really came around out of nowhere. I didn’t even know that there were so many girly fans, and then also the gays, and I’m all so thankful for that. Vince really thought it was an empowerment story, and I did resonate with that. Because no man is going to tell me what to do. No woman is going to tell — no one’s going to tell me what to do but CJ Perry, or Lana.”

On Practicing the Kiss In Front of Vince McMahon:

“It was so funny that you bring up a lot of these things too, because everything went as planned with the reaction. Vince brought us into the room and we had to practice in front of him, Johnny Ace and Rusev. Yes, we had to practice kissing. I know, I know, I know. It’s so crazy.

“It was like a room as big as this. Maybe half the size. And Johnny Ace and Vince are showing us how to do it. You know, they don’t go all the way to kissing, but they go really close…. And Vince is like — and we’re giggling. Like I cannot, I’m giggling so hard at Vince and Johnny Ace doing this like so close. I thought it was so hysterical. And he’s like, ‘CJ, we’re all professionals here.’ And so that’s when I knew right then and there, ‘Grow up, CJ.’ Like, ‘Don’t sell if you’re having a hard time with Rusev in the corner.'”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Ring The Belle with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.