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LAS VEGAS – Jade Cargill has been a constant presence in the WrestleMania spotlight since joining WWE in 2023.
Cargill teamed with Naomi and Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 40 to defeat Dakota Kai, Asuka and Kairi Sane. Cargill pinned Kai for the win in that match. At WrestleMania 41, Cargill made history by being part of the first non-scheduled women’s singles match at the event. She defeated Naomi after their friendship breakup.
She’s back in the spotlight again – this time as the WWE Women’s Champion.
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Jade Cargill makes her way to the ring during SmackDown at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec on January 23, 2026. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
Cargill won the title at Saturday Night’s Main Event in November, defeating Tiffany Stratton. On night 2 of WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, she will defend the championship against women’s Elimination Chamber winner Rhea Ripley.
She expressed to Pakinomist Digital in an interview before her fight Sunday night that she has the advantage going in.
“I mean, I’m me. I’m Jade Cargill. I’m the champion. I’m stronger. I’m bigger,” she said. “I mean, she’s been here before, right? Several times. So have I. I’ve had matches against Naomi. Naomi is spectacular in her own right. She was our champion. The only reason she dropped the title was because she was pregnant. So it’s not like I haven’t met champions who have made their own big events and been in their own big events.
“I’ve done it before. I mean, I’m me, that’s all I got to say. The only way to go is up. She’s been up. It’s time to go down. I just can’t see it ending right now. I’m 2-0. I’m red hot. I just formed a group with Michin and B-Fab. Who’s gonna stop us?”
Cargill would not say whether Michin and B-Fab will be by her side at her WrestleMania match, but emphasized that she found allies in them as Ripley turned her attention away from “Monday Night Raw” and onto “Friday Night Smackdown.”
WWE CHAMP JADE CARGILL HIGHLY HOPE TO MEET ‘STONE COLD’ STEVE AUSTIN AT HALL OF FAME CEREMONY
Jade Cargil competes against Rhea Ripley during Monday Night RAW at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on April 6, 2026. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE)
She suggested to Pakinomist Digital that the three were allies of convenience rather than a full-fledged stable.
“We’re more of allies. We’re not a group, we’re more of allies. They had their issues with her. I came in with my issues. Like, who are you to come to SmackDown? And I look at our locker room and I’m like, ‘This girl came from Raw to SmackDown and she thinks she’s going to run things, and you guys have been trying to conform me to the rules for a long time, too. It was a year of adjustments – all these things trying to do things the right way, when that little voice inside me kept telling me, ‘No, you know the right way, and don’t listen to you.’ And that’s what I did.
“So we all got together and we found out … Well, they came to me and it was more like, “You know what? You were right. It shouldn’t be like this. We should team up and get this person who’s an outsider, let’s get her out.’ She doesn’t even deserve to be on SmackDown. And so we became allies. We both have a common enemy. So we were like, let’s get rid of this girl. Let’s be done. And it was smart.”
Cargill said getting to this point had been a lot of “trial and error” since joining WWE.
She made her debut at the 2024 Royal Rumble and made her mark on SmackDown by helping Naomi and Belair. She and Belair were two-time tag team champions in that span, and in 2025 she won the Queen of the Ring tournament.
Jade Cargill holds up her championship belt during SmackDown at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, NC on March 20, 2026. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
“It’s been a trial and error ride. It’s also been a trial of adjustments because I was used to being one way,” Cargill told Pakinomist Digital. “I came in as a babyface when I’m obviously a heel. I want people to hate me. I love the motivation behind it. And then going from being about myself to being in a tag team, that was an adjustment as well.
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“It was a lot of elements that I had to change about myself and about my character and growing and learning to be selfless and learning to be a good guy and caring… So it was years of trial and error and just adjustments.”
Cargill’s reign has surpassed 165 days and will look to continue his dominance through WrestleMania 42 this weekend.
