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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 to win that match. At WrestleMania 41, Cargill made history by being part of the first non-stipulated women’s singles match at the event. She defeated Naomi after their friendship broke up.
She is back in the spotlight once again, this time as WWE Women’s Champion.
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Jade Cargill enters the ring during SmackDown at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec on January 23, 2026. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
Cargill won the title at the Saturday Night 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 Pak Gazette Digital in an interview before her Sunday night game 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 lost the title was because she was pregnant. So, it’s not like I haven’t faced champions who have appeared at major events and who have been spectacular in their own right.
“I’ve done this before. I mean, it’s me, that’s all I have to say. The only way to go is up. She’s been up. It’s time to go down. I just don’t see this ending now. I’m 2-0. I’m red hot. I just formed a group with Michin and B-Fab. Who’s going to stop us?”
Cargill did not say whether Michin and B-Fab will be by his side in their WrestleMania match, but he emphasized that he found allies in them when Ripley turned her attention from “Monday Night Raw” to “Friday Night Smackdown.”
WWE CHAMPION JADE CARGILL IS HIGHLY HOPEFUL 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 Pak Gazette Digital that the three were allies of convenience rather than an entire group.
“We’re more allies. We’re not a group, we’re more allies. They had their problems with her. I came in with my problems. Like, who are you to come to SmackDown? And I look at our locker room and I think, ‘This girl came from Raw to SmackDown and she thinks she’s going to run things and you guys are going to leave…’ Because I followed the rules for too long. I was trying to adapt. It was a year of adjustments: all these things. I was trying to do things the right way when, all the time, that little voice inside me was saying, ‘No, you know the right path, and the right path is the one on the left. It won’t take you anywhere.’ And that’s what I was doing.
“So, we all got together and realized… Well, they came to me and it was more like, ‘You know what? You were right. It shouldn’t be like this. We should get together and take out this person who is an outsider, let’s take her out.’ She doesn’t even deserve to be on SmackDown. And that’s why we became allies. We both have a common enemy. And then we were like, let’s get rid of this girl. Let’s break it up. And that was smart.”
Cargill said getting to this point had been a lot of “trial and error” since joining WWE.
She made her debut at Royal Rumble 2024 and made her mark on SmackDown by helping Naomi and Belair. She and Belair became two-time tag team champions in that span, and in 2025, she won the Queen of the Ring tournament.
Jade Cargill holds her championship belt during SmackDown at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 20, 2026. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
“It’s been a trial and error. It’s also been a trial of adjustment because I was used to being one-way,” Cargill told Pak Gazette Digital. “I came in as a babyface while I’m naturally a heel. I want people to hate me. I love the motivation behind it. And then going from being all about myself to a team, that was an adjustment too.
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“It was a lot of elements that I had to change about myself and about my character and grow and learn to be selfless and learn to be a good guy and care… So, it was years of trial and error and just adjustments.”
Cargill’s reign has surpassed 165 days and he will look to continue his dominance during WrestleMania 42 this weekend.
