Lana On Getting Call From John Laurinaitis About Her WWE Release, Reason He Gave Her For Company’s Decision

In a recent interview on Talk Is Jericho, Lana discussed getting a call from John Laurinaitis about her WWE release, what he told her about the decision, and much more. You can read her comments below.

Lana on getting a call from John Laurinaitis about her WWE release: “I actually got the call…let me tell a little backstory. This shows my commitment to what we do and also pro wrestling. At the beginning of the year, I really wanted to take my family on a family vacation. I wanted to get us a house and kept trying to get to the Caribbean. It wasn’t working out, so let me rent a house on the beach in St. Pete and I will be where work is. I don’t have to travel as much because I’ve been traveling the entire year throughout the global pandemic when a lot of people were just living in Florida. I was actually traveling and living in a hotel room 250 days last year by myself. I didn’t have to, but I wanted to give it my all. I didn’t want to get fired. I wanted to make sure I was an essential worker. I know, from day one, that those future endeavors can come, so I was preparing for it. So, I rented this house and decided to take my family on a family vacation here, and I could train a lot more. Two weeks in, I got a call from Johnny Ace. Crazy thing is I thought he was calling me about something completely different because I was offered to do another television show. They went through the whole process with WWE, they approved it, and so I thought he was calling me about those details.”

On the details of her conversation with Laurinaitis: “He says, ‘I’m calling you about your 90 days.’ I’m like ‘Wait, what?’ I couldn’t even understand. He’s like, ‘I’m calling you about your 90 days because you’re getting released.’ I was literally standing next to the pool like…my heart dropped. At the same time, I felt really relieved, which was really weird because I didn’t expect to feel relieved. It was like a weight lifted off my shoulder. If someone would have told me that would happen, I would have been like ‘no way’ because I love my job and I love the people I worked with. Things are shitty at times, but that’s why it’s a job. He goes, ‘Stay in touch. You’ve worked your ass off.’ I go, ‘Is there anything I did wrong?’ He’s like, ‘No, you’ve worked your ass off. You’ve improved tremendously in the ring. Thank you for working hard. Stay close.’ I chuckled to myself because I’m glad it wasn’t Mark Carrano that called me because I just see Johnny as this role. Mark kinda comes across like homies a bit more but Ace is like so corporate. He was like ‘budget cuts’ so I was like ‘OK, thank you for everything.'”

On telling others about her release and wanting a no-cut clause in her next wrestling contract: “So, I walk out and I was in the middle of texting Mandy [Rose] – we were texting about other things – and I’m like, ‘I just got released.’ She was the first person I told. I called Nattie immediately. I couldn’t even talk to Miro yet. Nattie had the same reaction. It just sucked, but at the same time, I felt really relieved in the sense I felt like I’d been waiting for this call. Whatever wrestling contract I have next, if I stay in wrestling which I hope I do, I want a no-cut clause because that was the worst – living in that state of fear because you don’t know when your future endeavors is going to come.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.