Lana | |
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Lana in March 2016
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Born |
Catherine Joy Perry March 24, 1985 Gainesville, Florida, United States |
Residence |
Nashville, Tennessee, United States |
Other names | C.J. C.J. Perry |
Alma mater | Riga Choreography School Florida State University |
Occupation | Professional wrestler, professional wrestling manager, model, actress, dancer, singer |
Years active | 1999–2005 (dancer) 2005–present (model) 2008–present (actress) 2009 (singer) 2013–present (professional wrestling manager) 2016–present (wrestler) |
Spouse(s) | Rusev (m. 2016) |
Modeling information | |
Hair color | Blonde |
Eye color | Hazel |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Lana |
Billed height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
Billed from | Moscow, Russia |
Trained by | WWE Performance Center |
Debut | October 23, 2013 (as a manager) April 3, 2016 (as a wrestler) |
Catherine Joy "C.J." Barnyashev (née "Perry") (born March 24, 1985) is an American actress, dancer, model, professional wrestling manager, professional wrestler, and singer currently signed to WWE under the ring name Lana, performing on the Raw brand as the manager of her real-life husband Rusev.
The eldest of four siblings, Perry was born in Gainesville, Florida, to parents of Portuguese and Venezuelan descent. She spent several years of her childhood in the Latvian SSR, where her father worked as a Christian missionary. Perry and her family remained in Latvia after it restored its independence from the Soviet Union in August 21, 1991. From an early age, Perry aspired to become a ballet dancer like her mother. She attended the Riga Choreography School (the ballet school of the Latvian National Opera) and began dancing with the Latvian National Ballet at the age of 14.
At the age of 17, Perry returned to the United States. She initially lived in New York City, where she danced at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Hispanico, Broadway Dance Center, and the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. Perry later enrolled in Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, Florida, majoring in dance and acting.