Cora Jade will be out of action after suffering an injury just weeks after making her grand return to WWE NXT which also required major surgery.
Jade was absent from NXT programming for most of late 2023 after announcing she was “leaving” the black and gold brand back in August. The move came just one week after she lost a Kendo Stick match to now-former WWE star Dana Brooke.
After four months of radio silence, however, Jade made a surprise return at NXT Deadline last month and confronted both Women’s Iron Survivor winner Blair Davenport and NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria. Jade has since solidly set her sights on Valkyria’s title both on and off television.
During an NXT house show in Dade City, Florida on January 12th, Jade faced off against Valkyria in the main event for the NXT Women’s Championship. Unfortunately Jade appeared to suffer an injury during the match as reported by fans in attendance.
Photos posted to social media, courtesy of X user GamingParenting, show Jade lying on the canvas while being checked over by referees and medical officials.
Looks like Cora got injured in the main event at #NXTDadeCity#WWE@WWENXT#CoraJadepic.twitter.com/4w9gHxmZCQ
— Tim (@GamingParenting) January 13, 2024
An unfortunate update was then provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer, stating that Jade suffered an ACL tear in the match:
The Cora Jade knee injury from the weekend house show we talked about on the show last night is an ACL tear.
The news of the injury was confirmed during the broadcast of the January 16th episode of NXT. Shortly before a battle royal got underway to crown a new number one contender for the Women’s Championship, NXT showed an image onscreen of Jade receiving assistance at the non-televised event and confirmed the injury was a torn ACL. Announcer Vic Joseph then stated that Jade is expected to be out of action “for close to a year” to recover from the injury.
Although Jade lost the match to Lyra Valkyria, it was stated on commentary that Jade was defeated at the house show by Wren Sinclair, previously known on the independents and in NWA as Madi Wrenkowski. Sinclair replaced Jade in the number one contenders battle royal.
The former Women’s Tag Team Champion provided a follow-up update on social media, posting a photo from a hospital bed on January 23rd.
They say that your darkest hour comes before your dawn. TTYL pic.twitter.com/mBTUz1edru
— Cora Jade (@CoraJadeWWE) January 23, 2024
With multiple stars of the division being sidelined with injuries, it has been questioned whether the nature of WWE’s training methods is to blame. Discussing the recent injuries on his podcast, Booker T has addressed the WWE-related criticism.
Cora Jade Wasn’t The Only WWE NXT Star To Suffer An Injury
Meanwhile, during the SmackDown broadcast from Lincoln, Nebraska on January 12th, another NXT star suffered an injury. During the show’s penultimate match, former NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes took on Austin Theory, though a winner was never declared.
At one point during their clash, both men landed directly on their necks after a jumping Spanish Fly from Theory went wrong. The match was quickly ended by referee stoppage after the spot, though WWE has since issued a positive update on both men’s conditions. With both competitors cleared to compete, the rematch will take place on the January 26th episode of SmackDown, the day before the Royal Rumble.
Everyone at Inside The Ropes would like to wish Cora Jade a full and speedy recovery.