Ahead of WWE’s biggest show of the year, WrestleMania, any viewer–diehard or casual– would expect WWE to be on its A game in every category. If this wildly inconsistent and, at times, outright poor television is what WWE calls “subverting expectations,” then props to them.
But that is not what’s happening.
This is not subverting expectations, nor is it entertaining. It’s just plain bad.
The Road to WrestleMania this year has been full of potholes, tolls, and wrecks, but no lane has been more affected by this than the women. Each week, we see how the female feuds are constantly overshadowed, underdeveloped, and some parts of the roster are just ignored altogether.
Even when the men’s division isn’t at its strongest, it still receives far more time and focus than the women, but somehow, WWE won’t allow its women to rise or even match that standard. Which is odd, considering a good portion of WWE’s best talent right now are women (Ripley, Flair, Vaquer, etc.).
Today, we’ll briefly take a look at WWE’s women ahead of WrestleMania and break down how WWE has mishandled much of the division.
Rhea Ripley and Jade Cargill: Frustratingly Bad
Back in February, Rhea Ripley won the Women’s Elimination Chamber Match and locked in her ticket to WrestleMania. With Liv Morgan already calling dibs on Stephanie Vaquer, Ripley was moved to SmackDown within a week. There, she can challenge Jade Cargill, the WWE Women’s Champion.
This feud is particularly infuriating. This could have been. So. Much. More. With all the back and forth on social media, and the seeming real heat between Jade and Rhea, fans were excited leading up to Ripley and Cargill’s first encounter on SmackDown—a scathing, blurring of the lines promo, or perhaps just a full-blown fight between two powerhouses. Instead, neither happened. Here is what actually happened, summarized:
Jade: I’m bigger than you
Rhea: No, I am
Jade: No, I am!
The first confrontation was awkward, anticlimactic, and honestly…bad. The feud continued to dive headfirst downwards, as each week was the same thing. Jade, who was once a one-woman show, now has henchwomen. Who hated her a week before? They come out, beat up Rhea, then leave.
Rhea has had a full-fledged tag-team partner in IYO SKY, who was nowhere to be seen with Rhea until last week. IYO came up short to Cargill in the main event of SmackDown, before Rhea came out to make the save.
Why did it take so long for Iyo to be involved? She should have been from the get-go. Sky is a beloved face in WWE. One simple backstage attack or post-match beatdown would have gone over so much better than whatever WWE is trying to do.
In my own personal opinion, I feel the fault also lies with WWE’s problem of banking on Jade Cargill. When time and time again, she has failed to rise to the occasion. Despite her months and months of training at the WWE Performance Center, Cargill has yet to consistently deliver on the level expected of her since she debuted in AEW.
If Rhea’s feud were with anyone else, it would have been better. I’ll be excited to see Rhea’s new gear and (hopefully) watch her defeat Jade, but not much else.
