WWE released many popular stars earlier this month. One of the performers is all set to debut for another wrestling promotion in July.
Former NXT Women's Tag Team Champion Cora Jade was one of the most surprising names on the list of recent releases. She had been an integral part of the women's division of WWE's developmental brand for a while.
Earlier today, Atomic Legacy Wrestling announced that Cora Jade, who has reverted to her old in-ring name Elayna Black, will debut for the promotion on a show slated to take place at Ocean Center Arena in Daytona Beach, Florida, on July 27. The former NXT star is currently under a 30-day non-compete clause with the Stamford-based company:
"MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT As first reported by @BodyslamNet ALW @WrestlingAtomic is excited to announce that @ElaynaBlack (fka Cora Jade) will be making her ALW debut on Sunday July 27th at our HISTORIC @OceanCenter Arena show in Daytona Beach Florida!" read the post.
Cora Jade spoke about competing on the independent scene before WWE debut
Cora Jade signed with WWE in 2021. She had made a name for herself with several praiseworthy performances on the independent scene even before she joined the global juggernaut.
Speaking in an interview with Nick Hausman last year, Cora Jade stated that her time on the independent scene helped her, and she was grateful for it. She named some popular stars she grew up watching who came up through the indies:
"I feel like it definitely helped me, and I'm so grateful for all my time on the indies. I feel like I got to work with a lot of people and a lot of people helped me get here. And I feel I wanted the indie experience. Obviously WWE was always my goal, my end goal, but I grew up watching CM Punk, Jon Moxley, Daniel Bryan, all these people who came up through the indies. So I always wanted that indie experience and I wanted to work my way up, work through all these different companies. So I think it did help me a lot. And there's a lot of things I still take with me to this day that I learned on the indies. So I'm very grateful for that," she said.
Before her release, Cora Jade also wrestled a handful of matches on TNA, including challenging Masha Slamovich for the TNA Knockouts World Title at TNA Sacrifice. Unfortunately, she failed to capture the title. It remains to be seen if the Nashville-based promotion shows interest in signing Elayna Black in the future.