AEW Star Reveals Turning Down WWE Following Tryout

AEW's Jade Cargill was the run in on this week's Wrestling With the Week podcast, hosted by James Willems and AEW wrestler Scorpio Sky. Cargill recounted how growing up she was a fighter, often taking on guys and proving how tough she was.

"Believe it or not, I know probably come off as a girlie girl or something like that, but I was one of the guys," Cargill said. "I used to fight all the time, because none of the guys wanted to wrestle me because I was a girl. And they were like 'oh girls don't wrestle and it's a bunch of rough neck guys.' And I was like 'whatever, let's do this.'

"And I would have to, no joke, I would have to punch these guys in the face or do something for them to even want to get rough with me or something like that. Cause I was like 'I'm just as tough as you guys. If anything  I'm bigger and stronger.'"

Willems asked Cargill if she grew up a wrestling fan. Cargill described her family as half being into football, half being into wrestling, with her on the wrestling end. She also noted that one particular WWE women's wrestler inspired her.

"I watched it growing up," Cargill said. "Watching Chyna really put a lot of confidence in myself. Because when she walked on the stage she had a presence about herself that was so assured. And I was bigger than all the guys, muscular, and she was very muscular and very fit. And she looked damn good; she looked good. And it was undeniable. Her talent was undeniable, her look was undeniable. That's what drew me in.

"I came in maybe around the Attitude Era. I came from more of a football background. My mother and father loved football and I was the one, my brother and I loved wrestling growing up. Got away from it and then the opportunity came up with Mark Henry. He set me up with a (WWE) tryout. It went well, I was asked to come, turned it down and here I am in AEW. And I'm enjoying it."

Cargill, who made her AEW debut teaming with Shaquille O'Neal to take on Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet back in March, noted she still had a ton to learn. She's confident she will learn it however and believes she can be a top star in the business.

"I think, as far as wrestling, I'm 28 years old," Cargill said. " It showed me that there's so much things that I don't know. There's nothing but room to get better and be the best at this. That's what I'm here to do. I'm here to elevate the women's division, but I'm (also) here to best. I wouldn't even step foot into this if I didn't think I was going to be good or benefit this company or wrestling in general. It's just I'm learning on TV as I go.

"I know that wrestling fans have an instant gratification. And a lot of people have been working on the indies and a lot of people have been going to wrestling schools that have developed them before they were on TV. Anthony Ogogo and I are probably the first people who are developing as we go on TV. I'm enjoying it. The sky's the limit, I just started and hell, I think I'm going to be damn good at this."

Sky brought up the difference between learning to be just a plain old wrestler, whereas Cargill has learned on the fly to be a TV ready wrestler. Cargill credited that to one of AEW's other stars, as well as knowing where the hard camera is at all times.

"Coming down to TV and working with Dustin Rhodes has helped me tremendously," Cargill said. "People probably think I pose too much and do all of this too much. One, I'm getting your attention. Two, Mr. Perfect and all them used to do it in the 90's and 80's so whatever.

"I love it. I know where the money came is. I don't necessarily understand the floor cameras yet but I'm getting used to it. I am making friends with the production crew, just asking them 'what looks good? What doesn't look good?' But I know the money came is always there and I know to look ahead and look confident."

One thing that's for certain about Cargill is she knows her own worth. That's why, while she appreciate the wrestling fan base as a whole, she's not going to be concerned with what some people say about her online as she continues to grow as a performer.

"This is going to come off so horrible," Cargill said. "Other than my coaches and people around me who want to see me do great, I don't care what other people think. It's because as wrestlers, even on this podcast, half the people who do comment and say these things couldn't do anything that we do. They couldn't get up on live TV and do half the things we do. They probably can't even take a bump, they'd probably throw their back out if they take a bump.

"I appreciate the fan base. I love them, because we need our fans, AEW has an amazing fan base. But I knew myself prior to wrestling. And there's nobody out there that's going to make me feel any type of a way because of something, this small of a window they see. I could care less.

Cargill then turned her attention back to learning to wrestle on TV. She believes a big part in helping her development is working AEW Dynamite in front of limited fans, thus giving her preparation for shows in front of sold out crowds when the time comes.

"As far as TV, I'm learning," Cargill said. "I think it's best that right now, with the whole pandemic going on, we don't have fans. So it makes that transition that much easier for me. Even though now I have to think of all these catchphrases to say in between things. When if I had a fan telling me to shut up, I can turn around and say something then and it's that much easier.

"I'm ready for the fans. Being on camera is probably easy for me because I do love social media. So it's not that hard. The transition isn't that hard for me. The hardest part is just that in between spots like I said."

Cargill is scheduled to appear on AEW Dynamite next Wednesday in an interview with Tony Schiavone. In recent weeks, Matt Hardy and Vickie Guerrero have both offered their services to Cargill as a manager, with Cargill hinting at declining them both.

You can watch the full interview below.