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CORA JADE DISCUSSES NXT HALLOWEEN HAVOC, ROXANNE PEREZ, THE PERFORMANCE CENTER, RAW, GOALS AND MORE: COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

With just under two years under her belt in WWE NXT, Cora Jade has hit a number of milestones already, including the WWE NXT Women's Tag Team Championship, being the center of a big Wargames match and now, a big feud with Roxanne Perez that looks to hit its apex this Saturday at Halloween Havoc 2022 in a Weapons Wild Match.  Jade sat down with PWInsider.com yesterday to discuss her NXT and WWE experiences and more.  Transcript by Billy Krotchsen.

 

Mike Johnson: It is Thursday, October 20th, which means we are about 48 hours away from the return of NXT Halloween Havoc, live on Peacock, streaming a the WWE Network, and in some places even the old school Pay Per View feed. There are a lot of big matches set for this Saturday from the WWE Performance Center, including a major grudge match as Roxanne Perez will face our guest at this time Cora Jade, who is just about to hit her two year anniversary of being with WWE, yet has had so many milestone moments already. We're going to dive into as many of them as we can.   First of all, Cora, thanks for sitting down with us and talking to us. Obviously any time WWE NXT has a major show it's a big event, but you've had a big week. You were just in the ring with Raquel Rodriguez on a very competitive night for WWE NXT, you've got a big match this Saturday for Halloween Havoc, how are you and how are you wrapping your head around all the responsibility WWE is throwing at you?

Cora Jade: I'm great. Thank you so much for having me. It's good to be here. I'm feeling good. I'm feeling very confident. I'm definitely feeling, I don't want to say nervous but more so ready and anticipating Saturday, I think there's going to be a lot of things that the fans are going to be happy to see and I'm excited to deliver.

Mike Johnson: As I mentioned, you're about to hit your two year anniversary with WWE this January. How has two years of being in that WWE Performance Center helped you grow as a person, helped you grow as a performer? And what is it been like having that life experience over the last several years working for WWE and training full time for the company?

Cora Jade: 2021 of January was when I did the Dusty Classic and then I technically started at the PC that following month in February. So it's definitely been a crazy ride. Obviously I grew up as a fan - a lot of people know my story. Anytime I would like, come to Florida, I always wanted to come by the PC and just see because I knew like, I wanted to be here so bad and like to grow up as a fan it's definitely crazy and being an Raw was absolutely incredible getting to obviously pick Rhea Ripley as my poison for Roxanne Perez, and then getting to work with Raquel again the next day. Obviously we have a bit of a past. I got to work with her side by side and you know, standing across the ring from her as well. I just learned a lot from her in all those aspects. Same as everybody here at the PC, like getting to work with Shawn Michaels every day who's somebody I, you know, one of the first people I ever saw wrestle, kind of got me into wrestling, is definitely great to be able to just walk in every day and I know if I have a question that he's there to answer it and help me out. So it's definitely crazy to be able to be on the other side of things as opposed to when I was a fan.

Mike Johnson: I was going ask you about working with coaches. You know, obviously Shawn is there, Matt Bloom, Terry Taylor, there's so many just wrestling wizards when it comes to the psychology and the mastery of what you do in the ring. You know, is there one coach that you lean on the most and what's that process like when you have a question about something you're trying to figure out what's the best plan of attack for a big match like this Saturday or a segment for TV or just something that's buzzing around in your head after watching and studying tapes? Like what's it like approaching some of these coaches and what's that experience like when you have someone like Shawn or Norman Smiley or Terry Taylor to lean on?

Cora Jade: The great thing about the PC is that every coach has like their own little thing that they're best at, like for example, if I, sometimes I struggle with you know, I want to learn some new submissions or work on my chain wrestling. I know that I can always go to Norman Smiley and he's like the God of chain wrestling. He always knows how to help me. Another one is Sara Amato. I feel like I connect with her the most. I feel she's just one of, if not the best female wrestler of all time, and she's just incredible. She helps me constantly, whether it's ideas or why something does or doesn't make sense. So she's incredible. I owe so much to her and would not be at the level I'm getting to without her. So to be able to work with her constantly is great. Another one I love working with is Johnny Moss. He was over at NXT UK. He's incredible. He always, you know, is very open to ideas, will always wants to hear, you know, my creative side of things, how I feel things would look the best. Just anything like that. He's very open to helping me share my ideas, but that's the same with everybody here. I feel everybody just, no matter what you need, you have somebody to turn to for it. And you know Terry Taylor, his psychology, knowledge and you know he's done everything in the business, he knows it all in and out. So like anytime you have any type of a question, doesn't matter what it is, you can go to Terry and he has the answer and he's hilarious. I love him.

Mike Johnson: This past Monday you were on Monday Night Raw to set up the Pick Your Poison. Thoughts on having that experience, especially walking into a very competitive NXT this past Tuesday, and Halloween Havoc this Saturday. And just in general thoughts on the recently the Raw and Smackdown influence with different talents popping up a little bit more in NXT in general, and how that trickles down to talents like yourself who are still finding their way.

Cora Jade: Yeah, I think lately they've been, it's been a lot of you know, mixing all three brands and I think that's great. Like, I feel like if I was still watching as a fan, which I still am even though I work here, I still watch like as a fan. But even especially before all this I would have, as a fan, I would have loved to see all this, like all the mix ins and like, it's just a very exciting time. And not only is it exciting for the fans, it's good for people like myself and other younger talent here at the PC to be able to have those opportunities to work with people who you know, are on Raw and Smackdown, have been doing this longer than us because it's all a learning process and you never, never stop learning. And especially, you know, like you mentioned I worked with Raquel and Rhea and those are two people who I look up to and they have a wealth of knowledge and they're very helpful. But yeah, I think in general, it's exciting. It's exciting to watch. It's exciting to be a part of. But yeah, just being able to learn from those people is definitely a great experience and I hope, hope it continues to happen.

Mike Johnson: This past week we saw with Andre Chase, he mentioned some of the classic and not so classic Halloween Havoc moments of the past. You know you're part of a generation who wasn't around when the original Halloween Havoc prior to WWE took place. What's it like for you to go back and watch some of those old events and is there anything from maybe some of the old Halloween Havoc events that you studied in preparation for Roxanne this Saturday?

Cora Jade: Yeah, obviously, I grew up, I started watching when I was eight and that was in like, you know 2009. So I was still pretty young, but I was always still obsessed with it that even though I started watching in 2009, I would go on my family computer and just watch so much old stuff because I was obsessed with it and I just wanted to like, be indulged in everything. Like when I started watching Trish Stratus was retired but she was like one of my favorite wrestlers because I watched, you know, the storyline with her and Mickie James. So it was always just going back finding stuff. So yeah, being able to be in a Halloween Havoc now and knowing like, what it was in the past is crazy. Like the Hogan versus Piper match. Incredible. Just being able to be part of this and realize that there's so many great moments, you know, in the past with the same title. It's great to be a part of it. I just, I love wrestling - old, new, all current, I just, I love it all. So it's very fun to be a part of.

Mike Johnson: The cool part too is you get to add to that time capsule and now the next generation who will have a much easier time finding everything thanks to Peacock and the WWE Network and services like that will like, click right through and you'll be part of that timeline. And that's got to be a pretty cool wish fulfillment moment for you as well.

Cora Jade: Yeah, that's crazy. Sometimes I do think about that. Like, when, you know, whether I'm just about to go out on Tuesdays or after I come back on Tuesdays. You kind of have, I feel like sometimes this moves so fast and so quickly and there's so much going on and you know, I'm so excited by everything going on. It's just a lot that sometimes I have to take myself out of it and like step back and be like, this is what I thought about as a kid and like what I'm about to go out there and do or whether I come back from the curtain and what I just did is going to be in wrestling history forever and like people will always be able to go back and watch it, so I feel like sometimes I have to tell myself that and it really helps me you know, go out there and do my absolute best and put my heart and soul into it because it's etched in history forever. And I think there's moments that I like, loved as a fan and I still think about to this day like, eventually hopefully one day someone is thinking back on like a Cora Jade moment and that they thought was cool, but like it's very cool to realize that what you're doing is there forever and will either like inspire somebody else one day or be someone's favorite moment or something like that. So it's very, very cool to be a part of.

Mike Johnson: The amazing but strange thing about that life experience is you'll touch people in ways that you'll never know about. Because it may be that you and they never cross paths and you never know. But it becomes sort of like this paying it forward exponentially without anybody ever realizing exactly the gift that they bestowed on the next generation. And that's part of the you know, the strange interconnectivity of the world that we have now.    We got to talk about Roxanne Perez this Saturday, obviously big grudge match, big storyline here. You've had a lot of big moments thus far in NXT, War Games, Dusty Tag Classic and things like that. Where does this match and I know we're not there yet, where does this match stand in terms of your legacy for NXT and what can fans expect when you and Roxanne get in the ring this Saturday on Peacock?

Cora Jade: Yes, I'm very excited for this Saturday. Obviously Roxanne and I have a very long history that goes even before we both got to the WWE. We have a very similar backstory and I think that's why we were originally friends to begin with. But I think this upcoming Saturday is going to be a turning point in both of our careers I think. As much as I despise Roxanne Perez now, I think we're both going to elevate each other to a different level because as much as I don't like her, she has passion for this. And I have a passion for this. So I know when both of us are in there together, we're going to create magic and I'm very excited to do it and then for everyone else to be able to witness it as well.

Mike Johnson: After that match, obviously it's a whole new world for you as you move forward in NXT and beyond. Every WWE talent is a goal oriented person. So let's talk about some goals. Obviously, you know, everyone wants to be able to say they wrestled at a Wrestlemania. They want to be able to say they held championships. For you., what are the goals that you have envisioned for yourself for the next year or so as you compete in NXT and beyond?

Cora Jade: I feel like I have a very big list of goals, like growing up I had notebooks full of bucket list things I wanted, you know, all the typical things you know, be in the game, have a documentary, have merch, like wrestle at Wrestlemania, all those typical things I feel are just very obvious, but my number one main goal I feel in the next year, is definitely becoming the next NXT Women's Champion. I feel like I have gotten so close so many times and you know, maybe it just wasn't my time all those other times but I'm feeling very confident and I'm feeling very ready and I feel like I have my eyes set on that championship. So no matter what happens with Roxanne Perez, in the future I will plan on being the next NXT Women's Champion.

Mike Johnson: One aspect of the match this Saturday we didn't talk about is Weapons Wild from Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal, a big part of Halloween Havoc's legacy. Thoughts on the Weapons Wild stipulation here and how does that change how you approach the match with Roxanne this Saturday

Cora Jade: That was a very unexpected match choice obviously, was not expecting that but I feel like it's going to be a very interesting entertaining element. Definitely a little bit more nerve wracking, I guess you could say, you know, having that stipulation going in, but I am no stranger to weapons. I've had some hardcore matches in my independent career. So I feel like maybe I have the upper hand here in this match on Roxanne but we're going to have to see. I definitely have some things up my sleeve. We'll have to see if Roxanne Perez has the same.

Mike Johnson: You had a taste of Monday Night Raw this past Monday. How does that experience get you excited about finding your way to the main roster down the line full time?

Cora Jade: I feel like obviously being there I learned a lot and I got to see a lot and you know, just watch everybody that's there. But just being able to be there and then come back to NXT the next day. It's very motivating for where you know, I want to be in the future, just to be in that environment around those people and just see how hard they all work and how it works up there is very motivating and inspiring and it just kind of lights a fire under me and makes me not only want to do better every single day but obviously put on the best match of my life on Saturday and just having in the back of my mind that that's the goal to get there with everybody. So it was very cool to have that taste of it on Monday as just another little reminder of what you worked for.

Mike Johnson: Well we're going to see the fruits of your labor this Saturday when you face Roxanne Perez at WWE NXT Halloween Havoc streaming live on Peacock and on Pay Per View and all those other places around the world. I want to let everybody know if you want to follow Cora's further adventures, you can check her out on Twitter @CoraJadeWWE, you can find your way to her Instagram and everywhere else from there. Cora, thank you so much for the time. You know what one last question. Any message to the fans out there about why they should watch the show this Saturday or maybe just a message to everyone who's followed you from Chicago and the days of Freelance Wrestling to now?

Cora Jade: Yeah, I'm very excited for this upcoming Saturday, like you said 8 PM Eastern Time on Peacock, Halloween Havoc. I'm very excited. Very much looking forward to it. The generation of Jade will be taking over Halloween Havoc from that day forward. So I'm very excited. Thank you everybody for watching and supporting. Please continue to do so because there's a lot more to come.

Mike Johnson: Cora, thank you so much for the time, we appreciate it. Hope you have a great rest of your day and be safe this Saturday.

Cora Jade: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me as well. 

WWE NXT Halloween Havoc streams tomorrow live on Peacock, The WWE Network and PPV.  PWInsider.com will have live, ongoing coverage.

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