Elayna Black Chose TNA to Escape WWE's Shadow, Fulfill a Childhood Dream
Elayna Black Chose TNA to Escape WWE's Shadow, Fulfill a Childhood Dream
Elayna Black, formerly known as Cora Jade during her run in WWE's NXT brand, signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in January and has since established herself as a contender for the TNA Knockouts World Championship. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Black detailed the personal and professional calculus behind her decision - one shaped by a childhood spent watching TNA and a deliberate desire to build an identity outside of WWE.
After departing WWE in 2025, Black worked the independent circuit, appearing for Atomic Legacy Wrestling, Black Label Pro, and Game Changer Wrestling before stepping away to address her mental health. She began professional wrestling training at age 15, dropping out of high school to pursue it, and said the period following her WWE departure marked the first time in roughly a decade that she had taken a voluntary break. "The only time I ever had time off was with an injury," she told Fox News Digital. "So, it's been my life forever." That pause, she said, ultimately clarified where she wanted to be. futsal live odds
Her connection to TNA predates her career. Black said she grew up watching the promotion and credited Jeff Hardy and the female faction The Beautiful People - comprised at their peak of Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, and Madison Rayne - as her primary inspirations. "They were like my gods," she said of The Beautiful People. "I was going to be in The Beautiful People." She recalled setting the faction's theme song as her first-ever ringtone on a childhood flip phone and, at approximately 12 years old, emailing TNA in an attempt to join the group. She also cited TNA's Knockouts Division as an early example of a promotion investing meaningfully in women's wrestling, arguing the company has not always received appropriate credit for that groundwork.
Black acknowledged initial hesitation about signing with TNA specifically because of its working partnership with WWE. "I wanted to prove who I was without them," she said. She ultimately concluded that TNA's creative environment, its willingness to incorporate talent's own ideas, and what she described as genuine institutional investment in its women's division made it the right fit. She was part of TNA's debut on the AMC network, on which the promotion's weekly "Impact" program now airs every Thursday. Black is currently positioned among the leading contenders for the Knockouts World Championship, with a potential reunion of sorts on her wish list - she said she hopes members of The Beautiful People might one day walk her to the ring.
