TNA star Elayna Black shares why she joined company, how she wanted to be in The Beautiful People

Elayna Black was 1 of the hottest escaped agents connected the pro wrestling marketplace erstwhile she departed WWE successful 2025.

Formerly known arsenic Cora Jade successful NXT, Black deed the autarkic circuit performing successful places similar Atomic Legacy Wrestling, Black Label Pro and Game Changer Wrestling earlier taking clip off. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) was an enactment for Black and she was precise acquainted with the company’s programming.

She told Fox News Digital she grew up watching TNA and became a instrumentality of Jeff Hardy and the pistillate faction known arsenic The Beautiful People.

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Elayna Black enters the ringing astatine Slammiversary 2026. (TNA Wrestling)

"At the clip I started watching TNA, Jeff Hardy was successful the company," Black said. "So, I was a immense Jeff Hardy instrumentality … I started watching WWE first. At archetypal that was the lone wrestling institution I knew. When you're a kid, you don't truly cognize thing else. And past dilatory I discovered TNA and you discover, oh, Jeff Hardy was successful WWE and I was young, truthful I didn't know. So, conscionable discovering Jeff Hardy was brainsick due to the fact that I was like, I emotion wearing achromatic nail polish and similar I was getting into my small emo signifier astatine the time. So, I loved Jeff Hardy.

"But my all-time favorites were The Beautiful People, specifically erstwhile it was the 3 of them astatine the time. It was Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, and Madison Rayne. They were similar my gods. You could not archer maine anything. I was going to beryllium The Beautiful People. I was going to beryllium successful The Beautiful People. I retrieve my archetypal ever phone, similar flip phone, this small pinkish telephone erstwhile I was successful similar 5th people that my parents got me, The Beautiful People's taxable opus was my archetypal ever ringtone. I emailed TNA erstwhile I was similar 12 years aged trying to person them to fto maine beryllium the archetypal ever youngest subordinate of the Beautiful People. Obviously, they ne'er responded, but present I americium now. And possibly 1 time they tin locomotion maine to the ringing oregon something. We'll see. But The Beautiful People, those are my girls."

Black yet became a main roster endowment for TNA successful January.

She told Fox News Digital she didn’t needfully privation to motion anyplace and was trying to bash what was champion for her.

"I deliberation for a portion I didn't truly privation to motion anywhere," she said. "Obviously, I knew yet I wanted to beryllium determination conscionable due to the fact that that's what I emotion to do," she said. "But I deliberation for a while, my mindset was conscionable wanting to beryllium myself otherwise. And I was having amusive connected the indies for a small bit, but beingness happens, immoderate idiosyncratic things came up and I felt similar I truly needed to instrumentality a interruption conscionable for my intelligence health. I started wrestling grooming erstwhile I was 15. I dropped retired of precocious schoolhouse to bash it.

"The lone clip I ever had clip disconnected was with an injury. So, it's been my beingness forever. And increasing up successful wrestling is besides benignant of difficult. So conscionable taking the clip for the archetypal clip truly and I'm 25 now, truthful 10 years, to conscionable benignant of beryllium backmost and bespeak aft losing everything that I had conscionable worked for was astir apt the champion happening I could person done. And taking that time, I was conscionable benignant of reasoning wherever would beryllium champion for me."

Black said she was initially hesitant to motion with TNA due to the fact that of its concern with WWE. She was conscionable coming disconnected a WWE tally and astatine archetypal thought she wanted to beryllium capable to bash thing connected her ain without WWE.

Elayna Black attempts to pin Indi Hartwell astatine Slammiversary 2026. (TNA Wrestling)

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But aft recalibrating, she said she believed TNA had the champion situation for her and provided an accidental for her to thrive.

"At first, I was a spot hesitant with TNA conscionable due to the fact that of the WWE partnership. And that's thing against WWE astatine all. I loved my clip there, but that that goes backmost to maine saying I wanted to beryllium myself determination other and I benignant of wanted to beryllium arsenic acold distant from WWE arsenic imaginable astatine the clip conscionable to beryllium who I was without them due to the fact that I was determination for truthful galore years oregon a fewer years earlier that," Black said. "At the extremity of the day, it seemed similar TNA had the champion environment. I wanted to assistance bring TNA to the forefront and assistance TNA grow.

"They got this AMC woody and I was fortunate capable to beryllium a portion of the AMC debut, which was great. But I'm not the 1 who built that. You know, I showed up connected the debut. There were truthful galore years of hard enactment enactment into getting TNA to the AMC debut and everyone determination is simply a hard idiosyncratic and everyone determination loves wrestling and it's precise creatively free, which is thing I deliberation I wanted and needed to bash to beryllium capable to situation myself. Being successful WWE for a agelong clip they benignant of person what they privation and you evidently person input arsenic good but TNA is very, precise unfastened to ideas and everything similar that. So, erstwhile I benignant of thought astir each that I was similar TNA is astir apt the spot for me, which is great. I emotion TNA."

Black credited TNA with putting women’s wrestling astatine the forefront. Gone were the days of bra and panties matches oregon different risqué types of angles. TNA grew its Knockouts Division and helped marque women’s wrestling much than conscionable filler matches.

"I emotion the locker room. I deliberation TNA has a large locker country situation successful the successful the women's division. Not lone that, but the women enactment connected 1 hellhole of a show each azygous time," she told Fox News Digital. "I deliberation a batch of the times TNA possibly doesn't get the recognition that it should for benignant of being up of the times with the women, astatine slightest successful my opinion. I deliberation TNA was doing worldly that different companies weren't doing with women for a agelong clip successful the beginning. I retrieve watching TNA arsenic a kid and adjacent noticing that I was like, I privation to bash what the Knockouts are doing. They get to bash mode cooler worldly and everything similar that.

Elayna Black plays to the assemblage astatine Slammiversary 2026. (TNA Wrestling)

"So, I deliberation a batch of times possibly TNA doesn't get the recognition for benignant of putting the Knockouts connected the forefront precise aboriginal connected and trying to amusement what they tin do. So, that's thing I've ever wanted to beryllium a portion of. It's thing I ever noticed conscionable adjacent arsenic a kid that TNA puts a batch of spot and religion successful the women, which is precise large and thing you don't ever see. I deliberation TNA is simply a large spot and immoderate spot each women's wrestler should privation to beryllium due to the fact that they genuinely judge successful the women and I deliberation the women are unthinkable and we're each pushing each different to beryllium better."

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Black is present a contender for the TNA Knockouts World Championship. She’s 1 of the mainstays connected "Impact" each Thursday nighttime connected AMC.