The wrestling league staged a car attack on top star Jade Cargill on SmackDown. The real reasons have since been revealed.
The scenes that WWE viewers saw on Friday were shocking.
During a match at the live TV show Friday Night SmackDown, a shocking image suddenly appeared: Jade Cargill was lying behind the scenes on a broken car windshield, motionless and with a badly battered face.
Cargill – the reigning Women’s Tag Team Champion alongside Bianca Belair – was later taken from the arena in Salt Lake City by ambulance. Although it was obviously a staged story, the reason for it is real and serious, as has since been revealed.
WWE: Jade Cargill out for longer period
As the Wrestling Observer reports, Cargill, who joined WWE from competitor AEW a year ago, is indeed injured, and the creative team has been told that the 32-year-old will be out for at least three months, possibly longer.
What kind of injury Cargill actually has is unclear. WWE itself speaks on its website of “muscle contusions in the deep paraspinal area,” a torn medial collateral ligament and bone contusion in the knee and lacerations on the face. None of this has to be true, the information is obviously aligned with the WWE script.
WWE staged the shocking scene on Friday in a match as part of the tournament for the newly introduced US Women’s Title: Cargill’s partner Belair competed against Chelsea Green and Blair Davenport – and left the ring concerned about her partner, allowing Green to claim the victory.
The question of who is behind the staged attack on Cargill is likely to play a major role in SmackDown in the coming months.
War Games Match: Replacement already revealed
Cargill will not be able to compete at Survivor Series this coming weekend due to her injury, but Bayley will take her place in the Women’s War Games Match, as revealed in the SmackDown episode already recorded for next week.
Belair and Bayley, along with Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky and Naomi, will face women’s champions Nia Jax and Liv Morgan, along with Raquel Rodriguez, Tiffany Stratton and Candice LeRae, this Saturday.
Cargill’s extended absence also raises the question of what will happen to the tag team titles, which are usually re-awarded in the event of such a long absence.