How Nikki Bella Helped 'Total Divas' Star Lana on Her Journey to WWE Wrestler

The reality show Total Divas chronicles the lives of some of the top female wrestlers in the WWE, and on this season, viewers will see Lana make the journey to performer with some help from fellow wrestler Nikki Bella.

Lana, whose real name is CJ Perry, has been part of the WWE for years, performing as her husband Rusev's valet. She recently made a debut as an in-ring competitor and shared with E! News that Bella was a huge force in helping her achieve that goal.

"Nikki has helped me so, so, so much," she said. "There have been times in my wrestling journey—and you're going to see this on the show—when I've gotten discouraged because the success doesn't come overnight. It's a lot of getting in there and failing. She was really the person that kept on encouraging me not to give up, to be resilient, to be brave and to have courage."

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She continued, "At times, I would think maybe I shouldn't continue to pursue my dream of competing in that ring, but she kept on telling me not to give up and keep on training. I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for Nikki Bella."

The 32-year-old shared that she has dreamt of becoming a wrestler since she was a child.

"My whole life, since I've been a little girl, I've watched wrestling and I've always wanted to wrestle," she explained. "I just never thought that I was good enough to do that. I never thought I had the talent to be a professional wrestler. But I don't want to just hold a microphone and be someone's manager. I want to get in that ring and fight and compete."

Lana added that she hopes her story inspires others to follow their dreams.

"With anything in life, if you have a dream, you're going to have setbacks, but I just want to encourage people to pursue their dreams, even if people doubt you, even if you have setbacks," she said. "Be resilient."

Photo Credit: Instagram / @thelanawwe