On the newest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed the social media battle that developed between WrestleMania foes Jade Cargill and Rhea Ripley over the weekend, with Ripley being joined yesterday (Mon., March 2) by Chelsea Green and Piper Niven.
It was their usual mix of reportage and speculation (reportulation? specultage?), but Alvarez did say, “They’re doing an angle on Twitter to make you think that they actually hate each other,” and during a long response Meltzer
did put the words “it is a work” together in that order. But Dave’s other point was that the current work is based on real issues Cargill’s had with other talent in the past— specifically Shayna Baszler last year.
We now have another report, this one from PWInsider’s Mike Johnson. While there’s agreement about the WWE women’s locker room having real issues with Cargill, Johnson’s heard the current beef is as real as past ones — meaning WWE Creative wasn’t involved in everything we’ve seen online since Ripley’s Elimination Chamber win Saturday night; it’s all legit.
One of Johnson’s sources said Jade’s had issues with multiple women at WWE, pointing to Green and Niven’s involvement as evidence. This source even hinted that reports of Cargill taking time off after an injury last year were cover for her being sent to the Performance Center to allow tension in the main roster locker room to subside.
Another source initially tried to downplay the recent Twitter beef, but eventually admitted they expected management to speak to Cargill. This source told Johnson the sentiment among the women’s roster is that Jade isn’t respectful enough to others, especially considering how much how much others have done to make her look good. They described Cargill as coming off as “insecure” when there’s no reason for her to feel that way.
Finally, a source close to Cargill laughed the whole thing off. According to that Insider source, the WWE Women’s champ is just a “Type A personality”, and this is what happens when there are several of those in a competitive environment.
So we have broad agreement on Jade not having a lot of fans in the WWE women’s locker room, and conflicting talk about whether that’s being used in a work to build heat for WrestleMania 42, or if it boiled over into the public during the normal build to the Women’s title fight in Las Vegas next month.
Take it away, scripted fight fans.
