tail light help

[lovely10]

Ok so I picked up some jdm tailights for my sr5 and I tried to put them in today but got stuck. I took off the 4 nuts holding them from inside the trunk and unplugged the harness to the tail light sockets but I had a lot of trouble pulling them out. Are there any tips to taking these out? I tried wiggling it, hammering it from inside, prying screwdrivers in crevaces. I've done this to my s13 before and it didn't need as much force as I used just to attempt this mod. Are there any tips you guys have to taking out the tail lights, without busting and damaging them? I've never tried taking off the center part since it was getting dark out and I didn't want to create more work than I needed, but does that need to be taken off for the tail lights to be taken off?

Sorry I know it seems so simple but yeah If anyone could chime in with some pointers. thanks

[TRDKAMURI99]

You don't need to remove the center panel. Once you remove all the nuts, inside the trunk, it should pop off. There is that black weather strip thing around the taillights that sticks but that is about it. Unless the previous owner used other than the oem replacement strips...some sort of glue???