Jade Cargill's Unique Rise from AEW Unknown to WWE's Biggest Signing in Years

The term "generational talent" gets thrown around a lot in the world of professional sports, but when it comes to pro wrestling, few encompass those words more than Jade Cargill.

If you were asked to build the ideal female athlete from the ground up, you would probably wind up with someone like her.

The 31-year-old has the height and muscular physique to be an imposing threat to anyone, a marketable look, more charisma than most people can handle and, most importantly, the drive to be the best.

Now that Cargill has wrapped up her All Elite Wrestling run and is working for WWE under a multi-year deal, let's take a look at the legacy and impression she left in Tony Khan's promotion.

She Has Risen

When AEW launched in 2019 BCE (Before Cargill's Entrance), its women's division didn't have nearly as many recognizable names as the men's, and this presented the company with a unique opportunity to build new talent from scratch.

The men's division included stars such as Kenny Omega, "Hangman" Adam Page, Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks, who had spent years building their reputations in WWE, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Impact and Ring of Honor.

Fans were aware of their talent and Khan was relying on them to create buzz and sell tickets, and with former WWE stars like Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho in the mix early on, AEW gained even more credibility.

While having that star power helped launch the company, it meant the rest of the men's division faced an uphill battle to reach the same level of popularity as those guys. However, the women had a different set of challenges ahead of them.

Not having a major name in the division when AEW launched meant everyone started on a level playing field. Sure, a few of them had been on television in some capacity, but most fans were learning about everyone on the women's roster at the same time.

At first, names like Britt Baker, Nyla Rose, Hikaru Shida and Riho caught the eye, but toward the end of 2020, a new face emerged who would immediately capture fans' attention.

Cargill made her AEW debut on November 11, 2020, in a segment on Dynamite that saw her interrupt Rhodes to tease the impending arrival of Shaquille O'Neal, but a lot of fans were more interested in who she was than the NBA icon making a one-off appearance.

Here was this six-foot woman with the kind of muscular physique that would make a Greek statue jealous, hair as white as X-Men's Storm and enough confidence to stand in the ring with the company's biggest star on her first night with a mic in her hand.

Needless to say, the Jacksonville University graduate captured attention the moment she stepped into the ring.

Learning as She Goes

While Cargill was clearly a natural athlete, anyone who has trained to be a wrestler will tell you it's unlike anything else you can do. It not only requires a lot of endurance, strength and speed, but also a high tolerance to pain.

Coming from a background in basketball, Cargill was no stranger to physicality, but she also didn't come into this with a complete lack of awareness. She told B/R in a 2021 interview how she grew up watching wrestling with her brother and ignoring the "Do not try this at home" warnings just like the rest of us.

"It's something I always have been into," she said. "Me and my brother used to be in the front yard practicing all kinds of wrestling moves. I say it all the time, I got bruised knees, broken this and that. I've done a lot. I love wrestling. I used to impersonate The Rock a lot. I used to impersonate John Cena. I loved it.

"I grew up watching it. I got away from it around maybe 15. And then I started really focusing on sports and playing basketball. But I mean, I think everybody grew up watching wrestling and the 1990s. If you were born in the '90s, it was everything."

She credited Cody and Dustin Rhodes, Billy Gunn, QT Marshall and other veterans with taking the time to watch her matches and offering feedback. She also talked about working with Bryan Danielson while appearing on the Grapsody podcast with B/R's Phil Lindsey:

Having a natural base she could build from as an athlete was great, but as soon as some trainees take that first bump in a ring, they reconsider every decision that led them to that point. Yet, Cargill only became more interested after her initial WWE tryout in April 2019.

"So, after my tryout, it kind of just lit a fire in me and I loved it," she told B/R. "I was like, 'You know what? Damn, I can really do this. This is fun, I'm enjoying it.' Of course, it hurts, all the bumps, but I enjoyed it. And once I start something, I don't put anything down.

"I'm a perfectionist. Once I'm obsessed with something, I'm really obsessed with it. And I'm very obsessed right now with wrestling."

Over the past three years, she has grown as a performer, gained more confidence, improved her technical ability and continued to form a connection with the fans who fell in love with her.

Undefeated and Dripping in Gold

Over the course of nearly three years in AEW, Cargill amassed an undefeated streak of 61 wins, most of which came while holding the TBS Championship.

When the title was introduced, it felt like it was designed specifically for Cargill, and the way it was booked during the subsequent years seemed to indicate as much.

She was too new to put the entire weight of the women's division on her shoulders by holding the world title, but Khan clearly saw the need to feature her prominently, so a brand-new belt was the best solution.

A tournament was held to crown the inaugural TBS champion, pitting Cargill against the likes of Thunder Rosa, Jamie Hayter, Anna Jay and Ruby Soho. The finals were held on the January 5, 2022 episode of Dynamite, which was the first episode to air on TBS.

For 508 days, Cargill dominated the competition as the titleholder. Most of her matches were short and decisive victories, but some of the bigger stars she bested pushed her to her limits.

During that time, she formed alliances with names such as Red Velvet, Leila Grey, Kiera Hogan, Stokely Hathaway and Mark Sterling, but the only partnership that seemed to last until the end of her AEW run was the one she had with Sterling. After all, a good lawyer is hard to find.

Along the way, she had rivalries with Willow Nightingale, Athena and the woman who would eventually beat her for the TBS Championship, Kris Statlander.

Her recent Collision match with Statlander is her highest-rated performance on CageMatch, but surprisingly, her second highest-rated bout is her debut with O'Neal against Rhodes and Red Velvet.

Speaking of Velvet, five out of Cargill's top 10 matches featured her in some capacity. The two seemed to understand each other as both opponents and partners, so AEW was wise to keep them in each other's orbit.

Over the course of 62 matches in AEW, Cargill only lost twice, and both losses came at the hands of the same opponent. Needless to say, she had a hell of a run.

The AEW Legacy of Jade Cargill

The vast majority of people in wrestling begin their journey in a small venue. Their first match will often be at an indie show in front of a few dozen fans, but Cargill's first real pro wrestling contest took place on TV, so the pressure was high right out of the gate.

In the nearly five years since AEW first launched, few have made the kind of impression she has on fans.

For some, Cargill was a role model. She represented not only the strength of all women but also connected with working mothers:

The Gifford, Florida native's star power even attracted new fans to AEW programming and reinvigorated an interest in pro wrestling for others.

While she made great strides in her career, especially during her rookie year, her run was not without its critics. But most negativity toward her time in AEW tends to be directed at how she was booked, rather than Cargill herself.

Like most performers, her career clearly means different things to different people, so her legacy in AEW is going to be defined in many ways.

However you choose to look at it, nobody can deny Cargill took the ball and ran with it. She was put in a high-pressure situation by not only having her debut match televised but also by being put into a segment with a legend like O'Neal and one of AEW's biggest stars in Rhodes, but she rose to the occasion.

The majority of her reign was made up of squash matches, but booking her that way was almost necessary. She was still green and AEW wanted to capitalize on having her while it could. So, limiting her in-ring time was the right choice, even if it wasn't always the most entertaining thing to watch her bulldoze over everyone.

In simple terms, her legacy will be that she remained undefeated for 61 matches and had one of the longest title reigns seen in some time. But to those who followed her career closely, Cargill served as a great example of hard work paying off.

What's Next?

Tuesday morning, WWE confirmed Cargill had signed with the company. It was an announcement almost everyone was expecting as soon as they heard she was done with AEW.

While AEW was a great place to begin her career and get accustomed to being on TV with a mic in her hand, WWE has had several decades to build a global audience with generations of fans watching over the years. If she wanted to be a megastar, going to WWE was her natural next step.

So now the question becomes: What does WWE do with her?

There are basically two choices in front of its executives. They can either have Cargill go through NXT like most people who sign with the company, or they can bring her straight to the main roster and attempt to capitalize on the buzz she has right now.

There are pros and cons to either situation. If WWE puts her in NXT, she will benefit from the coaching and trainers available at the Performance Center more than she would on the road with the main roster. As great as Cargill is, there is still room for improvement.

On the other hand, if she debuts on Raw or SmackDown right away, her arrival will be more impactful and generate more buzz. WWE rarely has surprise debuts anymore due to fans being introduced to most newcomers through NXT, so taking advantage of the opportunity to give Cargill a grand entrance might be a consideration.

It all comes down to whether WWE officials feel she is ready to be on the main roster or if she still needs time in the developmental system to sharpen her skills.

We have seen people who were veterans of the business still have to go through NXT, such as Finn Bálor and Gunther, so it wouldn't be shocking if the newest member of the roster had to do the same.

Regardless of how she is introduced, the former TBS champion is a tremendous signing for WWE. Not only is she an incredible athlete, but she also looks the part and has boatloads of charisma. There is an entire roster full of potential dream matches just waiting to happen.

Stars like Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bayley and Bianca Belair are likely going to have their eye on her. Cargill was a great asset for AEW, but now it's time for the next phase of her career to begin.