Last May, I wrote a column about wrestlers “jumping ship” from WWE to AEW, as well as from AEW to WWE.
The main portion of the “AEW to WWE” section was about MJF’s potential game-changing decision at the start of 2024, but I had to make mention of someone else on the AEW roster that I felt was a perfect fit for WWE…
Jade Cargill.
She looks straight out of a Marvel movie. Everything about her presentation is larger-than-life, and that’s the type of thing that WWE drools over.
In the last year-plus, there has been a lot of discussion about Jade potentially going to WWE. Some agreed with me and felt she was perfect for WWE. Others felt she was being booked to be a major deal already in AEW, and that was never going to be a guarantee in WWE. Some felt she wasn’t good enough in the ring to “hang” with the top tier women on the WWE roster. Others felt she wasn’t good enough in the ring, period, and didn’t want to see her anywhere.
Now that her WWE signing is more than just a rumor, what happens next? She is already trending in a big way for WWE’s social media. In a few days, a YouTube “short” of her merely walking up to the Performance Center has racked up 567,000 views on the aforementioned video sharing site. In that same time period, WWE’s Twitter account has posted multiple things about Jade that have seen major numbers. That same video from YouTube has been viewed an astonishing 6 million times. Their tweet officially announcing Jade’s signing has been viewed over 15.2 million times. Even a tweet that featured four pictures of Jade during her first training session at the Performance Center has been seen over 1.2 million times. Just for the sake of reference, WWE’s tweet before that training session one was a video of Maxxine Dupri giving her travel tips, and that has been viewed 176,100 times, and the tweet after the training session one was a video featuring the Top 10 moments from the previous night’s episode of Raw, and that has been viewed 81,600 times.
Needless to say, the right people in the right positions of power in WWE are taking note of those numbers. Of course, that doesn’t guarantee anything in the long-term, but it’s safe to assume that she will be given quite the spotlight in the short-term.
That’s fine with me.
I’m not concerned where she is, or isn’t, when it comes to her in-ring work. She was thrown into the ring too soon in AEW and basically had to learn things in front of the world. While she isn’t quite ready to be in the main event of WrestleMania right now, she’s miles ahead of where she was when she debuted, and now, she’ll have the opportunity to work with a much better, and much deeper, women’s division. Working with the likes of Becky Lynch, Bayley, Iyo Sky, Asuka, Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Zoey Stark, Tegan Nox, Charlotte Flair, Dakota Kai, Roxanne Perez, Meiko Satomura… you get the point… will be much more beneficial to Jade and her growth in the ring than with random names she would squash in 90 seconds every week on AEW programming.
Jade says that her biggest goal in WWE is to work the main event of WrestleMania. I mean… obviously. I would venture a guess and say that’s the goal of most everyone who works for WWE, and probably the goal for most who don’t work for WWE, too. As I said, I don’t think she’s quite ready for that right now, but guess what? That doesn’t matter. We’re six months away from the next edition of WrestleMania, and unless WWE does some drastic changes, there will be another edition the next year, another one the following year, and so on. The point is that Jade has time to be “ready” for that achievement, even if she isn’t there today.
Let’s have some fun here. We’ll pretend that WWE didn’t sign her to shuffle their feet, and that they signed her with some big things in mind.
What would a main event with Jade Cargill look like at WrestleMania 40?
First and foremost, Jade’s “dancing partner” for that match would need to be at a certain level of in-ring skill, as they might need to carry a little more of the weight of a match than they might normally have to. If you look at the women who are the current singles champions in WWE, you have Rhea Ripley on Raw, Iyo Sky on Smackdown, and Becky Lynch on NXT. Becky is a massive star and all, but come on… even on a two-night show, the NXT Women’s Title isn’t going to main event WrestleMania, no matter who is in the match. Shit, the NXT Women’s Title has only appeared on a WrestleMania card once, period, and that was at Mania 36… in 2020… with no fans in attendance… with Charlotte Flair in the match… and with no big NXT show during WrestleMania weekend.
What about Iyo Sky? There’s no denying that she’s a lot of fun in the ring, and seeing her high-flying skills against Jade Cargill’s size and strength would be an enjoyable clash of styles. Is that a “big” enough match for the biggest spot (even on night one) during WWE’s biggest show, though? I’m not sure that it is.
For the current champions, that leaves us with Rhea Ripley, who seems to have a plethora of WrestleMania options at this point. For a while, it seems like the rumor was that we would get Rhea vs Bianca Belair. Then, Rhea herself said in a promotional interview that she expects to end up in the ring with Becky Lynch for Mania 40. Next up, at least on-screen, it seems like we could be building to a Rhea vs Nia Jax match, and just reading that sentence made at least 50% of you pucker your assholes. Adding Jade as a potential opponent for Rhea would make sense, and unlike the Iyo Sky scenario, I do think that would be a “big” enough match, with the proper storytelling elements, to headline a WrestleMania.
I already know what some of you are thinking… yes, it is too early to pencil anybody in as champions right now. It was just the easiest thing to do if you’re looking at Jade’s immediate future as a member of the WWE roster.
If you’re looking at women who aren’t currently singles champions in WWE, I think WWE would probably have Charlotte Flair at the top of their lists for a Jade Cargill opponent. For years, what has helped Charlotte to stand out from the crowd is her look, how she is presented, and how she carries herself. From the second she walks out into an arena, she just looks like a star. Even if you knew nothing about her, you would take one look at her and know that she was someone important. With Jade Cargill, though, WWE has someone who is, arguably, even more impressive looking than Charlotte. A pre-match stare down between Charlotte and Jade would get some serious flash bulb action from fans in attendance, and WWE lives for that type of thing.
While I think Jade vs Bianca or Jade vs Becky would be better from a quality standpoint, that “special attraction” match between Jade and Charlotte really jumps off the page at me. The more I think about it, the more I find myself nodding my head for no reason. Charlotte has seemingly been on cruise control for so long that I couldn’t even tell you the last time I was this excited over the possibility of a match she would be involved in.
Could Jade make a stop in NXT before appearing on Raw or Smackdown? Yes.
Should Jade make a stop in NXT before appearing on Raw or Smackdown? Yes.
Will Jade make a stop in NXT before appearing on Raw or Smackdown? I’m not so sure.
Again, her arrival has been treated like such a big deal, both from the company itself and from the social media followers of WWE accounts. Because of that, I would think those in charge of decision making in WWE are going to want Jade in front of bigger crowds and a bigger television audience as soon as possible after they feel comfortable with how she looks at the Performance Center.
I’m looking forward to seeing what she can do, as well as what WWE can do with her. If you’ve been reading my work through the years, you know that I’m a fan of when wrestlers “jump ship” because it ups the excitement level more often than not, and it provides new opportunities for fresh matches and storylines. I think she’ll end up being a successful hire for the company, but just how successful is up to her and how badly she wants it. I’m more than willing to give her a chance.
Now, I turn it over to you. Are you a fan of Jade Cargill? What do you think her future in WWE will be? As always, you can hit me up in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), and let me know what’s on your mind. Now, let’s get to my Weekly Power Rankings, followed by my playlist for the week.
Weekly Power Rankings
Bryan Danielson vs Zack Sabre Jr: Hands down, one of the best technical wrestling matches you’re ever going to see, and precisely zero people are surprised by that.
Carmelo Hayes vs Ilja Dragunov: Dragunov continues to make a claim at being the best in-ring performer on the planet today. Melo continues to make a claim at having the brightest future of anybody on the WWE roster. We all get to witness greatness again.
Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay, Konosuke Takeshita & Sammy Guevara: If you like a lot of action in your wrestling matches, boy howdy, are you going to enjoy this one. Six men who could compete for the AEW World Title right now with no issues, and they all looked like a million bucks. The brightest star, once again, was Takeshita, who continues to look like someone that AEW could build around for years to come.
“Hangman” Adam Page vs Swerve Strickland: I’m not saying that Page and Swerve called this match on the fly, but what I am saying is that it was put together perfectly, working with the crowd cheering for the heel and booing the face, as Page, specifically, began to change the way he wrestled as the match went on. It’s so weird to hear AEW fans booing Adam Page, even if it’s because they’re cheering for the hometown guy in Swerve Strickland, who was born 30-something miles away from Seattle in Tacoma, Washington.
FTR vs Aussie Open: You can tell that, deep down, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler are still upset about CM Punk being fired. They watched their friend get cut loose, and they seem to be wrestling an angrier, more physical style in the ring since then. That’s saying a lot, because it’s not like they were working a John Morrison style to begin with. It’s making for fun matches, although probably not for their opponents.
Rey Mysterio vs Santos Escobar: We were sure this was going to be when and where Escobar turned heel on Rey, but we were wrong. Rey is two months away from his 49th birthday, with perhaps more mileage on his tires than someone 20 years older than that, but here he is, busting out great 20-minute title matches on WWE television. Amazing.
The Young Bucks vs The Gunns vs Lucha Brothers vs Orange Cassidy & Hook: It was an AEW match that featured four tag teams. That means it was going to be a hectic deal, and it was. However, the big news is perhaps the injury to Rey Fenix, who left the match relatively early on and didn’t return. More bad luck for Fenix, AEW, and the champions in the company.
Christian Cage vs Darby Allin: Darby is clinically insane for putting his body through the absolute hell that he puts it through, and maybe he’s paying the price now, as he apparently is dealing with an arm injury, showing up to the post-show media scrum in a sling and saying that he was set to get x-rays to determine the extent of the injury. This comes after Darby says that he really messed his spine up at All In(nit). He needs to slow down, or have Tony Khan step in and force him to slow down, because he’s destined for a life in a wheelchair, or worse, otherwise. Besides, he has to stick around so that he can team up with the newest member of the AEW roster…
Adam Copeland: It was heavily rumored that the Artist-Formerly-Known-As-Edge was AEW bound, but it was always a “I’ll believe it when I see it” thing, as he has been working with WWE in some shape or fashion for 26 years. He is going by “Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland now, and he still has “Metalingus” by Alter Bridge as his entrance music, so there’s not a lot of change for fans to deal with. According to the man himself, he is a full-time member of the roster that will be there on a weekly basis, so there are a lot of chances for him to work with his longtime friends again, as well as have numerous fresh matches and stories to work with.
Baron Corbin vs Bron Breakker: You know NXT is doing something right with this feud because they’ve been able to get Corbin face reactions while keeping the heel heat on strong for Bron. This was a lot of fun. Nothing technically marvelous, but two big, badass dudes trying their best to hurt each other.
Andrade El Idolo vs Juice Robinson: There’s only so many spots at the top of the card in AEW, but Andrade continues to prove that he deserves one of them.
Penta El Zero Miedo vs Matt Jackson vs Austin Gunn vs Orange Cassidy: A mini-preview, of sorts, of the tag match at WrestleDream. It was the appetizer version of the WrestleDream match, set up similarly, but still enjoyable.
Eddy Thorpe vs Dijak: A violent Strap Match that helped get both men over and made them both look great. It also continued WWE’s obsession with having faces get their asses kicked in front of family members who are sitting in the front row.
Finn Balor & Damian Priest vs Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn: The matches are good, but I need Owens, Zayn, Jey Uso, The Judgment Day, and so on to find different things to do. Soon. Preferably immediately.
Eddie Kingston vs Katsuyori Shibata: Kingston is getting a chance to live his best life, wrestling against many of the biggest and best living legends from the Puroresu scene. Works for me. He needs to be protected at all costs.
Trick Williams: Yes, it probably wasn’t scheduled to happen here, as it was only happening because Mustafa Ali was released from his WWE contract, but Trick is the new NXT North American Champion nonetheless. It has been crystal clear for a while now that NXT had big plans for him, and he has rewarded their faith by improving and improving in the ring, to already go with his mic skills and charisma that are just about unmatched by anybody in NXT.
The Family vs The Creed Brothers vs Out The Mud vs Humberto Carrillo & Angel Garza: While not quite on the level of the four-way match at WrestleDream, this was still a ton of fun and had some crazy action, especially when the Creeds were involved.
Dominik Mysterio vs Dragon Lee: Dragon Lee seems to have a bright future with the company, and he is on a roll with his in-ring work. He helped take Dom to, arguably, the kid’s best singles match, and you best believe that people in the right places notice things like that.
Nick Jackson vs Claudio Castagnoli vs Brian Cage: A nice clash of styles here, with all three men working hard to deliver something entertaining. Not every match needs to have a huge paragraph to describe it.
Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta & FTR vs Ricky Starks, Big Bill & Aussie Open: Big Bill continues to find himself on my Weekly Power Rankings. If you’re a longtime reader of my work, you would know how crazy and preposterous that seemed at one point, but here we are.
Hikaru Shida vs Ruby Soho: Ruby’s AEW run has largely been a disappointment, in my opinion. She tends to float around with random matches, picking up wins and earning title matches, only to lose those title matches and starting all over again with the same cycle. Her matches continue to be fun, though, so there’s that, at least.
Kofi Kingston vs Drew McIntyre: It feels like we’re really going with the slow burn for Drew’s eventual heel turn, but in reality, it hasn’t been very long at all. Seems like a lot of things in WWE are running in place right now, actually.
Jon Moxley: He didn’t wrestle, but he was still a key performer during the WrestleDream show. He was on commentary for three matches, but it was his versatility that was impressive. During the Wheeler Yuta vs Ricky Starks match, he flexed his comedic timing, talking shit about Yuta and praising him, all at the same time. In the Danielson vs ZSJ match, he dropped most of the comedy and instead focused on some incredible insight and analysis. The job of a play-by-play commentator is to tell the viewers/listeners what is happening, while the color commentator’s job is to tell people WHY it’s happening. That’s why most of the best color commentators throughout all of sports are people who used to play that sport at one time. They understand the mindset of an athlete and why they think what they think, say what they say, and do what they do. Mox was perfect in breaking down the holds that Danielson was performing, how his training was going, and what he was looking to do during the match.
Dragon Lee vs Tyler Bate vs Axiom vs Trick Williams: As I mentioned earlier, this stuff was thrown together at the last minute due to the release of Mustafa Ali, but they made the most of their situation and were able to give us something fun.
Wrestling: It was a busy weekend, but pro wrestling continues to show that, when it’s done right, there is nothing like it in the world. Great matches, big news stories, wrestlers going from one company to another… I love this shit.
This Week’s Playlist: “UN PREVIEW” by Bad Bunny… “SHAQ & KOBE” by Rick Ross & Meek Mill… “No Apologies” by Paul Wall, Bun B, Termanology & DeAndre Nico… “Landmines” by Sum 41… “Die About It” by Bad Wolves… “RED” by SiM… “KiSS OF DEATH” by SiM… “UNDER THE TREE” by SiM… “Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong” by Houston… “Lizzo” by Moone Walker… “To The Hellfire” by Lorna Shore… “Call Me Little Sunshine” by Ghost… “Find A Way Or Make One” by Amon Amarth… “Knife Talk” by Drake, 21 Savage & Project Pat… “Toosie Slide” by Drake… “Don’t Stop The Rock” by Freestyle… “The Party Has Begun” by Freestyle… “Let The Music Play” by Shannon… “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force… “When I Hear Music” by Debbie Deb