Roxanne Perez has opened up about her friend being released from WWE. WWE.com

Roxanne Perez Reacts To Cora Jade's WWE Release

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Jon Alba | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 3:25 PM ET

Roxanne Perez is officially a member of the WWE main roster, but her greatest friend and foe in WWE NXT will not be joining her there.

Cora Jade was one of several WWE talents released last month in a round of budget cuts, finishing up a four-year run with the company. During her time in NXT, she feuded on and off with the former NXT Women's Champion Perez, before eventually teaming together for a time before Perez's eventual main roster call-up.

The two of them knew each other dating back to their time on the independent circuit, with their history aiding the rivalry between them. As a result, the release wasn't an easy one for Perez to process.

She spoke with the New York Post recently, reflecting on the bond they share.

“I absolutely love Cora so much. And, yeah, we definitely talked about making it to the WWE together before we even made it, and being able to share all of those moments that we were able to share together from her last (NXT) match, being able to tag with me was really cool," she said. "And I feel like, when I look back at my NXT career — oh, that kind of made me cry.”

The 23-year-old Perez noted working alongside one of her best friends made her a better performer all around, and pushed her to reveal more of herself on global television.

“I feel like, when I look back at my NXT career, I just see Cora and how much she helped me, how much she helped me with my character work, and to be comfortable with who I am. My heel turn was close to us teaming up again together. So being able to do all of these promos with her and these backstages really brought out a different side of me and a more comfortable side, and a side that I had never really shown to the world or the crowd before,” Perez said.

The release capped off a difficult WWE tenure for Jade, who opened up about some of the struggles she faced in an appearance on Ariel Helwani's show Monday. Still, Perez is optimistic about what her friend is going to accomplish as a free agent, and believes she will succeed.

“So yeah, I absolutely love Cora, and it’s hard to do it without her now, but I know she’s gonna absolutely kill it in whatever she decides to do. I think everybody should definitely keep an eye on Elayna Black because she’s gonna do some really cool things,” she said.