Former WWE Star Elayna Black Talks Mental Health Struggles From Wrestling

Elayna Black, formerly known as Cora Jade in WWE, announced that she’s stepping away from wrestling in July. Most wrestling fans know about her from her time in WWE NXT, where she won the Tag Team Titles with Roxanne Perez.

A lot of fans assumed that Elayna has retired from wrestling altogether, and some news outlets also reported the same. But in a recent interview on TMZ’s Inside the Ring, Elayna stated that she’s merely taking a break from wrestling and would eventually come back.

Elayna Black Talks About Feeling Depressed And Suffering Panic Attacks

In the interview, Elayna talked about how it felt so “weird” to take a break from wrestling. The only time she had taken a break was to heal from her knee injury in January 2024. But after her WWE release, she was fully booked again in the indie circuit and had this realization that she’s not actually enjoying wrestling right now.

“I had like 20 bookings right away. I was gone four days out of the week, plane right after plane. I was going, going, going. And that’s what made me realize—I’m not having fun doing this.” (H/T SEScoops)

She suffered panic attacks before her matches, and even the thought of having to wrestle at a show made her feel sick. She described her relationship with wrestling as “toxic,” and it was affecting almost every area of her life, whether it was physical, mental, or even emotional.

“I was having panic attacks before every single match. I’m cold, sweat, dripping, like throwing up—so horribly physically sick over the fact that I have to go wrestle this weekend.”

“I have a toxic relationship with wrestling right now. It was just so draining. I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t eating. I wasn’t working out. I was so depressed. I got to such a low, low point.”

Black Says She Hasn’t Retired From Wrestling

She canceled all of her upcoming wrestling bookings in July 2025 and took a break. Many assumed this meant retirement, but Elaynza mentioned this not being the case.

“Wrestling will always be there… Even in my post I said I’m just taking the rest of the year and seeing where I’m at. I never once said I was leaving wrestling. People twist your words.”

She did, however, say that if she hadn’t decided to take a break, she would’ve been retired by now because she would’ve “went nuts and went off the rails.”

Elayna also mentioned that therapy has helped her a lot in the last few weeks and that she’s optimistic about the future. For now, she doesn’t plan on getting back into the ring this year (something Leah Van Dale also said in another interview), but there’s always a chance she could return one day.