Former WWE tag team champion Jade Cargill has had a bit of a strange last few months after getting laid out in an injury angle on Smackdown and then disappearing for multiple months before returning at Elimination Chamber where she took out Naomi, who has since been revealed as the person who originally took out Cargill.
Prior to being absent off of TV, Cargill was apparently involved in a situation with Shayna Baszler that led to her getting some backstage heat as originally reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and later confirmed by fightfulselect.com. According to the story, the issue began during the Clash at the Castle tag team match when Baszler had Cargill in a chokehold and it was apparently on a little too snug forcing Cargill to tap on Shayna's forearm, unfortunately in plain view of the referee and the cameras. On the surface it looked like a clear submission but that wasn't the finish so the bout went on.
After the match, the report notes that Cargill was apparently disappointed in herself, apologetic backstage but rumors circulated that Cargill mentioned that Baszler "needed to learn how to work" - a statement that was denied by people close to Cargill. Talent kept quiet on that front, not confirming or denying the truth but the Observer reported that Baszler heard the remarks and was ready to fight Cargill until management stepped in and diffused the situation. Things then escalated when Cargill returned and cut a promo video that she was "demanding respect" and was surrounded by wolves in the shape of women. This reportedly rubbed some wrestlers the wrong way and a few took it personally because they kept the issue between Cargill and Baszler quiet only to hear a promo like that. While most kept quiet publicly, Chelsea Green posted a pic on social media of herself lounging around with her dogs and captioned it with "Imagine calling your coworkers ‘wolves’ while demanding respect, and I’m just over here like."
Cargill's absence from November - March was also a topic of much speculation with some reports indicating she was nursing an injury while another said she was perfectly healthy and was being kept off of TV for creative reasons. One story is that Cargill had asked for time off during the holiday season and was denied by WWE management as being available over the tour was mandatory. However, at some after her request, Jade suffered an unspecified injury which caused many people backstage to wonder about its legitimacy as the timing of wanting time off and then sustaining an injury was questionable. That led to rumors that she wasn't truly hurt, though WWE higher-ups confirmed that it was legitimate and that Cargill was willing to come back much earlier than Elimination Chamber but the company wanted to ensure she was completely healthy and medically cleared, which is also why she headed to the Performance Center for several weeks to train. For what it's worth, sources close to Jade have insisted that she didn't ask for time off over the Holiday season.
