When Jade Cargill made her move from AEW to WWE in late 2023, the hype was immediate. A powerhouse presence with a championship pedigree, Cargill was instantly seen as a future star for the company.
But WWE Hall of Famer Booker T had a different perspective last fall—one that stirred plenty of reaction across the wrestling world.
Back in September, Booker was assessing Cargill’s early WWE run and her adjustment period after leaving AEW, where she’d spent just over two years in the industry.
Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, he stressed that Cargill was still “fresh off” her AEW stint and hadn’t yet had the time to grasp the nuances of professional wrestling, according to Wrestling Inc.
“I want to know who those baffled WWE, TNA, and AEW wrestlers are,” Booker said after reports surfaced that talent across companies questioned his comments. “I’m willing to talk, challenge, and debate with any of those guys. I don’t look at myself above or below any of the guys that’re in the business today…My thing is I respect the young guys.”
For Booker, the issue wasn’t about disrespect—it was about perspective. He pointed out that two years inside the ropes is barely scratching the surface of what it means to be a professional wrestler, comparing it to his own early years. “I know at two years in the business what I knew, which was very, very little,” he admitted.
He even recalled wrestling veteran Dusty Wolfe early in his career and recognizing the wealth of knowledge he gained by letting Wolfe lead. “If you ain’t got your ears open learning from someone like a Dusty Wolfe, you’re going to be swimming upstream. I can almost guarantee you that in Jade’s first two years, she didn’t work with anyone like Dusty Wolfe,” Booker said.
Fast forward to now, and Booker has doubled down—not on criticism, but on his belief in Cargill’s potential.
Just five days ago, on his Hall of Fame show, he praised her most recent outing against Tiffany Stratton on SmackDown. He noted that the match “took it to another limit” but also said there are adjustments that could elevate her further.
“There’s a couple of things in that match, you know, that — personally, I wish I had a chance to work with Jade Cargill, you know, and really got a chance to fine tune some things with Jade Cargill to really put her on the right path,” Booker explained.
Booker went on to describe Cargill as “such a raw piece of clay that’s being molded into something special.” In his words, her ultimate mission should be nothing less than to “take over the WWE women’s division” and eventually win the world championship. To help her get there, he even extended a personal offer to train her at his Reality of Wrestling school.
Now two years into her WWE journey, Cargill has already racked up accomplishments—two Women’s Tag Team Championship reigns and back-to-back WrestleMania victories.