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The WWE is a lot like the NBA, NFL, and MLB. It is the place many wrestlers strive to reach much like basketball players, football players, and baseball players aspire to enter their sport’s prestigious leagues. Many do not make it. Some get there and go elsewhere for a variety of reasons. Some people start out elsewhere and find success, but in the back (or front), of their minds, the WWE is the place they want to be. Those who make it are fortunate enough to have their dreams come to fruition. For Jade Cargill, the most dominant champion in AEW history, this rings true. And she’s finally made it.
“I feel great. I feel phenomenal. I feel like I’m about to tear the house down,” she told VIBE. “It’s just beginning. I feel accepted. I feel that I have done nothing but take an alternative route to get to where I needed to be to create those phenomenal moments and to create that household name.” The 31-year-old powerhouse’s September signing caused a shockwave throughout the wrestling community. She was featured all over WWE’s socials and has been the subject of many reports speculating on what show within the promotion she would join. That curiosity peaked as she appeared on Smackdown for an interaction with 14-time Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, Monday Night Raw for a conversation with seven-time Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, multiple appearances on the developmental brand NXT, and even a segment during the October premium live event WWE Fastlane.
Cargill hasn’t been seen on television since, but reports indicate that she has been training in the WWE Performance Center, which is what she was most excited about, beyond all of the dream matches. “I just want to learn the system here first,” she asserted. “I come from an alternative system where everybody trains in other places and just come together and make something work. [I want to create] that foundation here and [get] the fan base to rally with me, and just [work] with my opponent and [embrace] the system, culture, and universe that they have here.”
Make no mistake about it, she is ready for the smoke with anyone interested. “I have a lot of dream matches, but right now I’m calling out everybody,” Cargill said. “I can come down to NXT and prove why I am Jade Cargill and why I am where I am. I can definitely do that. That’s easy for me to do. If they want to call me out, I can definitely come down there and show them exactly why I’m positioned in the perfect spot.”
When one looks at Jade Cargill, one sees a strikingly beautiful woman with an impressive physique and a countenance that conveys all of the confidence in the world. She has the look of a star and believes that she is one. Cargill initially tried out for the WWE in 2019 before joining AEW in 2020 and having a dominant three-year run.
While on the surface it may seem like she did not get what she initially wanted, she savored the opportunity to be presented in a special light on another platform. “I would say I made the most of what I got,” she said about her AEW tenure. “My first match was with Cody Rhodes and Shaquille O’Neal. Who gets that? No one gets that coming into wrestling. That was my first match ever and it was on national TV, so I can’t take that away but nothing beats this program. It’s where dreams are made. It’s the grand stage and I’m ready to dance.”
Cody Rhodes was, and is, the talk of WWE after leaving AEW in early 2022 and debuting at Wrestlemania 38. Since then, he has been positioned as one of the top babyfaces, otherwise known as good guys, in the company and been prominent in all of their branding in and out of the squared circle. The “American Nightmare” is the blueprint for how a company can take top talent from another promotion and, rightfully, make them look more important than ever before.
Rhodes and Cargill built a relationship during their time in AEW, and the latter had glowing compliments for him when discussing her excitement to be his co-worker once again. “I’m excited,” she said. “He’s a phenomenal guy. A phenomenal father. Just seeing how the system treated him and just seeing how happy he is. He’s a hard worker and he goes after what he wants. I know that if I come in with those same tools that the sky is the limit.”
Beyond WWE’s ability to create true megastars, they have also emphasized the Black talent within the company over the years. Jade entered years after some monumental moments such as Kofi Kingston becoming the first African-born WWE Champion at Wrestlemania 35. Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair became the first Black women to main event a Wrestlemania in their 2021 bout over the WWE Women’s World Championship, formerly the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Cargill emphasized a sense of belonging when reflecting on those moments.
“I feel welcomed here,” she said. “I feel like the sky’s the limit. I feel like I’m going to do nothing but become the stellar athlete that I know I’m going to be.” Cargill got to embrace her roots in her former promotion at AEW Double Or Nothing 2023. As a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., she performed a stroll with her sorority sisters during her entrance before defending her TBS Championship against Taya Valkyrie.
It was an awesome moment for the Black Greek community and something she hopes to bring to the WWE. “I would love to do that,” she said. “One thing I did like doing was integrating wrestling with the D9. Why not? I was trying to get everybody from D9 out there. I obviously just got AKA because I’m a part of the sorority, but I wanted us all to be out there because people don’t know what that is in this industry.”
She understood that moment, and how future moments would be informative for the greater wrestling community. Yet, she holds dear the chance to do what she loves alongside people she cherishes. “Before I went out there, one thing I said to all my line sisters was, ‘Hey, this is a moment for us,’” she said. “‘If they don’t understand, that’s fine. It’s about us right now and we’re going to make some names and people are going to know who we are because they’re going to sit back and say, ‘What is this? What’s going on?’”
Wrestling is a highly involved profession, but she doesn’t want to lose the foundation she gained through AKA. “I wanted to make my sorority proud,” she asserted. “I wanted to represent because that’s a big part of my life. It’s not something easy. You’ve got to dedicate a lot of time and service and gratitude and so I just want everybody to see how proud I am to be a part of a stellar sorority.”
Along the vein of authenticity, one major concern when wrestlers join the WWE is that they will lose aspects of themselves that fans came to love about them. Rest assured, Jade Cargill is intent on staying true to who she was when the world first learned about her. “I’m just that ‘It Girl,’” she said. “I’m just that person that is herself just turned up to the 10th power. I’m a confident woman. I know myself. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to breathe life into that mic.”
Historically, some wrestlers have been apprehensive about learning the WWE system as it differs from many others. As Jade said multiple times throughout the conversation, she is all for what they have to offer her. “I’m very coachable,” she affirmed. “I keep my head down and I do the work. All my coaches can attest to that. There’s no reason why my coaches will ever put me over if they didn’t believe that I was going to create a legacy. I have so many people in the Hall of Fame and legends who see greatness in me. That itself speaks for itself.”
With all this confidence, it came as no surprise what type of music Jade Cargill listens to when she is getting ready to hit the ring. “I’m listening to Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, hard-hitting women who just take no crap from anybody and know themself and [are] very independent,” she said. “Anything that [is] upbeat to it to get me feeling loose and light. Then right after, I’m probably listening to something so mellow. I love me some Jay-Z. I love Beyonce as well.” Of course, we had to ask what her favorite collaboration from Hip-Hop’s power couple was and she answered “Drunk In Love.”
She went a bit deeper on Hov and another artist who inspires her, saying “Jay-Z is a very big inspiration. [Kanye West] is a big inspiration as well because [of] what they say. Those two guys are stellar, and [they] make me think. I love, ‘I Wonder’ by Kanye West. I love ‘Champion’. Those songs right there I listen to a lot in getting me motivated for the day.”
Obviously, Jade Cargill is no stranger to being a champion, but she experienced victory in another aspect of her life. She and her husband, former MLB player Brandon Phillips, became owners of the professional softball team the Texas Smoke, back in March. In August, they won the inaugural Schiffhauer Cup with a dominant 2-0 series win over the USSSA Pride.
Cargill was so caught up in seeing her team’s victory that she missed out on catching Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE tour, but understood the necessary sacrifice. “The day that [Beyoncé] came to Atlanta, we were playing for the playoffs,” she said. “I was very upset. My daughter and I got tickets because she’s even [more of a] fan of Beyoncé than I am. She loves Beyoncé. It’s sad, but I’ll catch her I’m sure at another show. I’m going to meet her one day.”
Some may deem the promotion she’s received and the confidence she exudes as a high standard to live up to, but given the WWE’s track record of success, it seems like it’ll only be some time before Jade Cargill is standing across the ring from elite talents like Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and more. Fortunately, she is committed to sacrificing and working on the steps necessary to become a star. The WWE women’s locker room is officially on notice.
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