Former NXT star Cora Jade has finally opened up on her WWE exit.
Earlier this year, ahead of the 7th February episode of SmackDown, WWE released multiple talents. Similarly, later, before the May 2nd, 2025, edition of SmackDown, 17 WWE talents were released from their contracts. Amongst the 17 released stars were several former champions and some top stars, including Braun Strowman, Dakota Kai, Shayna Baszler, Kayden Carter, Katana Chance, Cora Jade, and many more.
Following their release, reports emerged about how a few of those released names were perceived to be “lazy”. However, not staying silent to the accusations, former NXT stars Gigi Dolin and Cora Jade decided to speak up. Addressing the “lazy” reports, Jade opened up on how hard they worked but still had to undergo bodyshaming during their time there.
Now, almost a month after her exit, Cora Jade appeared in an interview with Ariel Helwani on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show‘ and reflected on her release.
“Obviously, the initial shock of it all, even though I feel like I knew it was coming. I’m just really weird with my intuition. I always have been and I’ve always had this gut feeling. I want to say, November, I had a feeling that I was going to be gone. It’s always up and down. When it’s good, it’s good.
Maybe two weeks before the cuts, it was Vegas, I was like, ‘I’m going to make it good because I’m not coming back here.’ I just had that gut feeling. Obviously, you don’t want it to be right, ‘Don’t manifest it,’ but I always had that gut feeling. That day, I was going to hang out with [Blair Davenport] and she called and said, ‘Josh [Riley Osborne] just got fired,’ her husband. ‘Okay, I’ll keep my ringer on.’ Sure as hell, two minutes later, I got the call. ‘Okay.’ It is what it is.
“Coming back from a knee injury was crazy. I’ve never experienced anything like that. I didn’t play sports before wresting, so I never had a major injury that I had to come back from. Even just getting a month after that and feeling like I was in a good place, I had a conversation with somebody, who I won’t name, but someone I kind of feel I would have had a better experience there if it wasn’t for, not Shawn [Michaels] or Hunter [Triple H] or anybody, I can’t praise them enough, but there was a conversation with somebody where I was like, ‘Okay, this is probably going to be weird in a few months,’ and it was.”
She further discussed.
Yeah, at times. I feel I can look at it and things I could have changed or done differently. When you think about it, there is nothing. I was there every day. I was cleaning up the locker room with Roxanne [Perez] after the shows because we’re from indie wrestling and that’s what you do.
Until the day I was gone, that’s just what you do. You can always look at it and think what you can do different, but at the end of the day, I feel comforable in the fact that I got to do so much stuff with my best friend and so many of my best friends and I feel confident that I stood on my morales and things I spoke up about that maybe other people wouldn’t have.”
Soon after her release, Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net, reported that Jade, now known as Elayna Black, will make her debut for Atomic Legacy Wrestling in Daytona Beach, Florida, on July 27th. She has also been announced for the ‘Black Label Pro show Have You Heard’ on June 14th.
Cora Jade Reveals The Bodyshaming Incidents She Had To Suffer In WWE
Further, in her interview with Ariel Helwani, the former NXT star opened up on the concerning bodyshaming incidents she had to endure during her time there. Clarifying her Tweet from a few weeks ago, Jade said,
“I’ll say this because I did put it out there; the body shaming stuff. I don’t want this to be a bash WWE because it was my dream and still is my dream. I have no doubt, maybe one day in the near future, I’ll be there again, but it is what it is. Thinking about…my dream was to be a WWE Superstar.
Then, I become a WWE Superstar and I accomplish all these goals and meet all these people, me and Roxanne became closer than ever doing these storylines. I got to work with Bayley, who is a hero of mine. [CM] Punk is a mentor to me now. I got to do so much, so I don’t want it to be bash WWE at all because I’m so happy with my time there.
I did so much stuff that I was writing about in my notebook as a kid. I definitely think things could have went differently if it wasn’t for certain things, like the body-shaming thing. I came in at 19 years old. I was 110 pounds and so small. It was constant comments, whether it was guys who think they’re being funny or, I’m not going to name names, but I remember specifically being told that I wasn’t and wouldn’t be champion in that company because I look like I couldn’t crack an egg.”
“Multiple conversations about my body. I don’t think anyone, especially a man, should be saying that to a female. Especially because I was so young. It created a lot of issues for me, body-wise. I gained so much muscle after that. I worked my ass off. I would go to the strength and conditioning classes, which, in my opinion, are more geared towards college athletes and people coming in from college and working on that kind of strength and conditioning.
It never felt like it was doing anything for my body. If you guys are yelling at me for how I look, but you’re not really helping me out in the strength and conditioning that I need, then I would just go to my other gym afterwards. I was working my ass off. Seeing [the report about released talents not working hard], if you only knew what I dealt with and how much I had to progress because of those things.
People say so much and when you finally say something back, they’re like, ‘Woah.’ God forbid I say something back. Again, I don’t want it to seem like I’m bashing WWE because I loved my time there, I really did. I loved everybody there, but there were certain things and specifics where I’m like, ‘Damn, this is my dream. I didn’t go to college. I dropped out of high school at 15 and did a year online so I could start wrestling training.’ I don’t know anything else. It is defeating when things like that happen. You can only look at it as things happen for a reason. That’s how I feel.”
Cora Jade wrestled her last match against Sol Ruca on the 24th April edition of NXT Live. Her last PLE match was on the Stand & Deliver pre-show, where she was on a tag team with Roxanne Perez.
H/t Fightful
In other news: Following R-Truth and Carlito’s exit, another top WWE star has been released.