Jade Cargill on leaving AEW for WWE: It wasn’t easy, but it was easy

WWE’s media blitz for Jade Cargill yesterday (Sept. 26) included sending the newly signed star to chat with David Shoemaker Kazeem Famuyide of The Ringer.

The standout quotes from this interview support the idea that WWE is the major leagues of professional wrestling. Cargill is respectful of her time in AEW, but talks about the last three years as a means to this end.

Asked how it feels to be able to call herself a “WWE Superstar”, Jade replied:

“It feels great. I feel like I was just in preparation for the grand stage. I felt like this was always the mission. I felt like, you know, the shoe fit. I felt like this was going to happen. Honestly, this is all expected. So, I’m excited to be here.”

More than just preparation for “the grand stage” of WWE, Jade viewed her time in AEW as a career strategy. While talking about her 2019 WWE tryout and not signing with the company at that time, she said:

“One thing I am is a business woman. I think I made the best route at the time. WWE is a great company, but I took what I had and I bet on myself. The outcome, obviously, paid off.”

The 31 year old Cargill wouldn’t say she’d “hit a ceiling” in AEW, but did say she didn’t a path to where she wanted to go at Tony Khan’s company:

“I wouldn’t say it’s a ceiling. I would just say that the route I wanted to take was different and the route I wanted to embark on was different. I didn’t see, over there, where I could fit it. The only way I could do it was coming to the WWE Universe. I bet on myself and I made the best decision coming here.”

There were some things she wanted to do in AEW that didn’t happen, though:

“I wish I would have worked with the amazing women who are holding the main belt [the AEW Women’s World title; Cargill held the company’s secondary women’t championship, the TBS title]. That’s one of the things I really wanted to do. A couple of them reached out to me — I wish they would have had that match. I wish so as well. I could have gone on the mic with a lot of those ladies. TV time is short and we have to work with what we got. Of course, I could have had some dream matches before arriving to the grand stage.”

And on the topic of how difficult the decision to leave AEW for WWE, she yet again spoke the latter as a “the grand stage”, saying:

“I want to create a legacy. I want to be in the Hall of Fame. I want to wrestle with the best women in the world. I mean, there is no grander stage than this stage. The opportunities are endless for this company. It’s a no-brainer. It was very welcoming. I didn’t have any second thoughts about it at all. It was just an easy choice. It wasn’t easy, but it was easy.”

Jade also cited the other big name WWE has lured away from AEW, Cody Rhodes, as a major factor in her decision:

“He was top three, and not third. He is a phenomenal man. I’ve seen what the business did for him, I’ve seen him be the stellar athlete that he is. I didn’t see any different for myself. He was one of the guys that led me to a great decision.”

You can listen to Jade Cargill’s entire interview with The Ringer crew, where she also names Nia Jax, Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, and Bianca Belair as among the many members of the WWE roster she wants to face, here.