You should never lose your job due to injury. That’s something you hear often in a team sport like football or baseball when a member of the starting roster is forced to miss a significant number of games.
It’s a very fair and respectful sentiment and an easy one to follow through on when there is a clear drop off in production during that player’s absence. Not so much when their backup comes off the bench and plays like they should have been higher on the depth chart in the first place.
When Cora Jade tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus in an NXT Live match back in January, she was forced to sit back and watch, not just one person, but an entire locker room full of talented women thrive.
Kelani Jordan became the first ever Women’s North American Champion, a title that didn’t even exist the last time that Cora was in action. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson could be on the verge of a main roster call-up as their push to become WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions has earned them a spot on the Crown Jewel card this coming Saturday.
Jaida Parker, Lola Vice, Sol Ruca, Tatum Paxley, Thea Hail. The list goes on and I haven’t even mentioned WWE’s three recent free agent signings.
Then there’s Roxanne Perez, who went on to capture the very NXT Championship that Cora Jade was chasing months ago. Stemming off what the ‘Savior’ of the NXT Women’s Division said upon returning to television, it was easy for Cora Jade to feel a bit forgotten.
“I feel like there’s a little bit of truth to everything I say and Tweet,” Cora admitted to The Takedown on SI. “Selfishly you can only sit back and look and be like, I feel like I’m [being] forgotten about or passed over. The division is kind of moving on without me.”
In that particular situation a talent can do one of two things. Get jealous or get motivated. Jade chose the latter.
While this division may not need a savior, Cora is ready to not only dive back into the mix but lead the charge during what could inevitably be the next big boom period in women’s professional wrestling.
“We’ve never had so many talented women. We’ve never had so much time for women on a show and the segments and the matches. It’s literally the best time to be a women’s wrestler. So yes, it was defeating a little bit to have to sit back and not be a part of it. But at the same time it was motivating to realize that I’m coming back to literally the best women’s division in the entire world, in any company.”
The timing of Cora going down was horrendous. Obviously, it’s never a good thing when a wrestler suffers an injury, especially one so serious. It definitely stings more, however, when a special run appears to have been on the horizon.
Jade had just returned from a months long hiatus from NXT last December, and was clearly being set up for a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship, which was held by now Raw Superstar Lyra Valkyria at the time.
It was during a house show match with Valkyria at the Dade City Armory in Florida where Jade would feel her knee give out. The start of the most physically and mentally painful period in her life to date.
“At that point it was almost like I was at rock bottom,” Cora said but with a positive outlook. “Everything was already bad, so you could only go up from there. I had no choice in the matter.”
Everything happens for a reason. An idiom that Cora took to heart during her rehab process.
Prior to the non-stop pro wrestling grind, Jade was an avid reader. Her time away from NXT allowed her to find comfort in the pages of a few good books and enjoy other little hobbies she had lost touch with over the years.
The perfect reset to allow her to appreciate all that she’s accomplished in her young career, while also preparing for next chapter in the story of Cora Jade.
“I’ve been going so hard and just nonstop since I started when I was 15, 16-years-old and I’ve never had a break,” Cora said. “I wish it never happened, but in retrospect, I think it was good that I got the time to just sit back and breathe for a second. And just come back with a fresh start, fresh headspace.”
Jade shocked everyone when she returned to NXT on the CW Network premiere. Getting back into the mix less than nine months after major surgery is quite the accomplishment.
Just hours away now from her first match back, Jade has no trepidation in regards to her knee. She is 100 percent healthy and ready to go out and prove she’s worthy of resuming her main event level push.
“I’m as ready as I’ve ever been. I’m in the best shape physically and mentally that I’ve ever been in, so I’m excited. I think this is gonna be a very good run for me. And I think not only just me, but the NXT Women’s Division, I think we’re skyrocketing right now.”
There’s no tiptoeing into the pool for Cora Jade tonight at NXT: Halloween Havoc. No time to test the temperature of the water. It’s straight into the deep end as Jade teams with her good friend – and sometimes enemy – Roxanne Perez to take on two of the most highly touted free agent signings in NXT women’s history in Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer.
There may be no one in all of professional wrestling who is on a better roll than the NXT Women’s Champion right now, speaking from a performance quality standpoint. And while Perez is on the heater of a lifetime, Giulia and Vaquer are two highly regarded international superstars.
Make no mistake about it. Tonight is quite the bench test for someone wrestling their first match since January. It’s also a test that Cora Jade would not be handed if the man in charge didn’t believe she was up to the challenge.
WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Development Shawn Michaels never shies away from giving the women in his locker room a spotlight and it’s his leadership that Cora is incredibly grateful to experience.
“He has endless trust in the [Women’s Division],” Cora said. “I remember when I got hurt. I was crying and I was apologizing to him and I remember [Michaels saying], ‘Don’t say sorry. It’s not your fault.’ I’m just so thankful that he obviously gets it. Injuries happen. You have to take the time, get better. He gave me the time. He let me mentally, physically get better. And then as soon as I came back… he had the faith and the trust in me to throw me back in the main event picture.”
While Cora will admit that it’s a bit nerve-wracking stepping into the ring with someone new for the first time, especially two women the caliber of Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer, she left most of her nerves backstage at the Allstate Arena a few weeks back.
Now, she’s eagerly anticipating the sound of the ring bell.
“When I ran out and returned in Chicago, that was kind of the first taste of being back and the adrenaline, sweating and wanting to vomit before going out. I got the first taste of it out of the way, so now I’m ready for the match.”
