Jade Cargill

As of September 2023,^[update] she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand. She is also known for her time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) from 2020 to 2023, where she was the inaugural AEW TBS Champion; her single reign of 508 days is the longest for any AEW championship.

Jade Cargill
Cargill in 2022
Birth name	Jade Cargill
Born	(1992-06-03) June 3, 1992 (age 31) Gifford, Florida, U.S.
Alma mater	Jacksonville University
Spouse(s)	Brandon Phillips
Children	1
Family	Peter Cargill (cousin)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Jade Cargill
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight	160 lb (73 kg)
Billed from	Vero Beach, Florida, U.S.
Trained by	AR Fox Bryan Danielson Dustin Rhodes Heath Slater Q. T. Marshall Sonjay Dutt WWE Performance Center
Debut	March 3, 2021

Cargill was born in Gifford, Florida in a family of Jamaican descent. She attended Sebastian River High School and Vero Beach High School, helping her teams to two basketball district championships. In 2009, Cargill played Amateur Athletic Union basketball for the Orlando Comets.

Cargill graduated from Jacksonville University with a social science degree; during her time at Jacksonville University, she played basketball for the Jacksonville Dolphins, and was named to the Atlantic Sun Preseason First Team in her senior year. Cargill went on to attain a master's degree in child psychology. After receiving her master's degree, Cargill worked with foster children as a child psychologist until 2019.

Training (2018–2021)

Interested in becoming a professional wrestler, Cargill was introduced to WWE veteran Mark Henry by a mutual friend. Taking advice from Henry, who she described as her "mentor", in 2018 Cargill attended the Face 2 Face professional wrestling school in Morrow, Georgia owned by Heath Slater, Ron Simmons, and Teddy Long. In April 2019, Cargill attended a WWE tryout at the WWE Performance Center. Subsequently, Cargill began training at AR Fox's WWA4 Academy. She then trained at Nightmare Factory under Q. T. Marshall and Dustin Rhodes. Sonjay Dutt and Bryan Danielson started coaching her when they arrived in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2021, at the request of AEW founder and owner Tony Khan.

All Elite Wrestling (2020–2023)

Cargill made her professional wrestling debut with AEW on the November 11, 2020, episode of Dynamite, interrupting Cody Rhodes, and teasing the arrival of Shaquille O'Neal. The next day, Tony Khan announced that Cargill had signed a multi-year contract with AEW. She worked with Cody Rhodes and his wife Brandi, leading to a tag team match pitting her and O'Neal against Rhodes and Red Velvet on the March 3, 2021, episode of Dynamite; she won her first match. On the March 17 episode of Dynamite, Cargill wrestled in her first singles match, defeating Dani Jordyn. Despite Matt Hardy offering his managerial services to Cargill, he was shunned in favor of Mark Sterling, which was announced on the May 28 episode of Dynamite.

In October 2021, it was announced that Cargill would participate in the AEW TBS Championship tournament to determine the inaugural champion, and would be one of four women to receive a first round bye. Cargill went on to defeat Red Velvet in the quarterfinals on November 24 and Thunder Rosa in the semifinals on December 29. In the finals, which took place on January 5, 2022, she defeated Ruby Soho to become the inaugural AEW TBS Champion. Two weeks later, in her first title defenses, she retained against Anna Jay and Julia Hart on episodes of Rampage.

Throughout the early part of 2022, at various AEW events, Cargill continued her undefeated streak and retained her title against numerous opponents, most notably The Bunny, Tay Conti, Willow Nightingale, and Leila Grey. In mid-April, she formed her own stable called the Baddies, which consisted of her, Kiera Hogan and Red Velvet. On May 29 at Double or Nothing, Stokely Hathaway became her new manager and a few weeks later in late-June, Grey became part of the stable, replacing an injured Velvet. Around the same time, Cargill entered her first feud with the debuting Athena. The two eventually faced off in a title match at All Out on September 4, where Jade squashed Athena in a match that lasted less than five minutes. After fending off other contenders such as Madison Rayne and Diamante, she began a feud with Nyla Rose, who stole her TBS championship belt. The feud between the two lasted nearly two months and culminated at Full Gear on November 19, where Cargill defeated Rose to retain her title.

On January 5, 2023, Cargill reached the one-year mark as TBS Champion. The following week on January 13, she became the longest-reigning champion in AEW's history at 373 days, breaking Hikaru Shida's 372-day record with the AEW Women's World Championship. She held the TBS Championship until Double or Nothing on May 28, 2023. At the event, she beat Taya Valkyrie in a scheduled title defense, before she lost the title in an open challenge to the returning Kris Statlander in less than fifty seconds, ending her reign at 508 days and ending Cargill's 60-match unbeaten streak. Cargill made her return on the September 9 episode of Collision attacking Statlander. On the September 15 episode of Rampage (taped September 13), Cargill lost to Statlander in a title rematch. This marked Cargill's last match in AEW.

WWE (2023–present)

Following Cargill's departure from AEW, she reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando in September 2023, with reports that she had signed with WWE. On September 26, WWE officially announced that Cargill had signed a multi-year contract and had begun training at the Performance Center. She was WWE's first signing under TKO Group Holdings. Cargill made her first appearance on WWE programming during the Fastlane pre-show on October 7, where she was shown arriving at the arena and was met by WWE chief content officer and head of creative Triple H. She subsequently made brief appearances on Raw, NXT, and SmackDown, teasing which brand she would join.

Cargill made her WWE in-ring debut on January 27, 2024 at the Royal Rumble, competing in the women's Royal Rumble match. Cargill entered the match at 28, eliminating Nia Jax, Becky Lynch, and Naomi before being eliminated by the number 30 entrant, Liv Morgan. On the March 22 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Cargill had been assigned to the SmackDown brand. On the March 29 episode of SmackDown, Cargill made her debut and signed her SmackDown contract. Later in the episode, Cargill saved Naomi and Bianca Belair from an attack by Damage CTRL. At WrestleMania XL, Cargill, Naomi and Belair defeated Damage CTRL in a six-woman tag team match when Cargill pinned Dakota Kai.

Cargill wrestles in a powerhouse style. Her signature moves include a bicycle kick and a chickenwing facebuster which she calls Jaded.

Cargill has credited female wrestler Chyna and X-Men character Storm as her inspirations. She has also cited Jacqueline Moore and Jazz among her favorite wrestlers.

Television

Video games

Cargill has a child with her husband, former Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips. In March 2023, Cargill and Phillips were announced as owners of the Texas Smoke, the fourth franchise of Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF), based in Austin, Texas.^{[better source needed]} Cargill's cousin Peter Cargill played for the Jamaica national football team in the 1980s and 1990s.

 

• All Elite Wrestling
  • AEW TBS Championship (1 time)
  • TBS Championship Tournament (2022)
  • AEW Dynamite Award (1 time)
    • Breakout Star – Female (2022)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 5 of the top 150 female wrestlers in the PWI Women's 150 in 2022
  • Rookie of the Year (2021)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Rookie of the Year (2021)