Cora Jade Elaborates On Body Shaming Tweet

Elayna Black, formerly known as Cora Jade in WWE, recently opened up in a new interview about her release from the company and more.

Black was released on May 2nd as part of a round of roster cuts. She appeared on Monday’s episode of “The Ariel Helwani Show” to discuss her departure, address rumors circulating about the released talent being “lazy,” and share her experiences with body shaming and other challenges she faced.

You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:

On her reaction to her WWE 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.”

On why she felt that way in November: “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.”

On if the situation was unsettling for her: “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 comfortable 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.”

On her tweet about being body shamed: “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.”

On if she had been feeling better about things by WrestleMania week: “Honestly, it’s so weird because I say I had that first feeling in November that I was getting fired, but I will say, for some reason, even though I had that in the back of my head all the time, those last six months of my career there was the best times I ever had. I don’t know if it was because in the back of my head I thought I was going to get fired, so I was just trying to live it up while I can and really soak it in and enjoy it, but those last six months, from October to May, those are the best times I had. I got to work with Bayley, I became super close with Stephanie [Vaquer] and Giulia. Roxanne is my best friend. We got to do so much stuff together inside and outside the ring that, I’m so happy I had those last six months and I’m so glad that ended there with all that. It had such a good ending for me.”

On if she was given a reason for her release: “I asked. I said, ‘Is there a specific reason or budget cuts?’ because that’s what they typically say. They said, ‘It was a company decision.’ I’m not going to sit there and argue with them. It is what it is.”

Zoey Stark has shared a new photo on Instagram following her recent injury, expressing a familiar feeling with the caption “Deja vu.”