Jade Cargill and Naomi created a heat rivalry en route to WrestleMania 41. (Credit: Craig … More Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
Jade Cargill finally got her revenge on Naomi, and as an added bonus, she did it in resounding fashion on the grand stage of WWE WrestleMania 41.
The bout made history, too.
Before WrestleMania 41, the last non-title women’s match at a WrestleMania happened all the way back at WrestleMania 22 in 2006. Even then, that bout, a Pillow Fight between Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle, hardly qualified as a legitimate singles match. Prior to that, the lone other women’s singles match without a title involved was at WrestleMania 16, a “Cat Fight” between The Kat and Terri Runnels.
Women’s wrestling has, thankfully, come a long way since then, and the WrestleMania 41 bout between Cargill and Naomi was proof positive of that.
En route to WWE’s flagship show, Cargill vs. Naomi was one of the best built rivalries on the entire two-night event. Begun with a classic “whodunit?” angle when Cargill was attacked last year, the revelation that Naomi, Cargill’s supposed friend, was the attacker set the stage for a heated grudge match at WrestleMania 41.
That’s exactly what WWE fans got inside Allegiant Stadium, with a short but sweet bout that ended in decisive fashion when Cargill demolished Naomi with a massive Jaded finisher.
ForbesWWE WrestleMania 41 Results: The New Day Cheats, Wins 12th Tag TitleBy Blake OestriecherClearly, WWE decided to go with the most obvious possible outcome.
Cargill, after spending months on the sidelines, returned at Elimination Chamber and took out Naomi with an unforgettable beatdown. Then, inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the former AEW star enjoyed the sweet taste of revenge when she quickly disposed of Naomi in a heat-filled grudge match.
In a rare twist, WWE was able to do a better job of making Cargill vs. Naomi a must-see rivalry than it did with its two women’s title bouts. The three-way feud between Bianca Belair, Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley always felt a tad paint-by-numbers while Charlotte Flair vs. Tiffany Stratton was a complete disaster from the jump.
But Cargill and Naomi demonstrated why sometimes simple stories are the best ones.
After all, it’s not as if Naomi being revealed as Naomi’s attacker was some revolutionary storyline. It was obvious from the get-go that Naomi, who took Cargill’s spot as Belair’s partner and one half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, would ultimately be revealed as the one who took Cargill out.
The feud hit is peak during an intense segment on SmackDown in early March, one that received rave reviews from those within WWE. Naomi herself has spoken openly about wanting to have a long-term, layered storyline to sink her teeth into, and when she finally got one, she consistently knocked it out of the park.
Naomi has been elevated as a villain for the first time in nearly a decade while her tremendous heel work has also helped Cargill become one of WWE’s most popular stars. From Cargill’s epic Elimination Chamber return to the memorable SmackDown segment to their WrestleMania 41 match, these two stars showed why more women deserve a chance to tell a story without a title involved.
At WrestleMania 41, they proved that they should remain focal points of WWE SmackDown moving forward, whether or not their feud continues beyond the show.
