Jade Cargill is viewing her first run as WWE Women’s Champion as a learning experience and says her next reign will be different following her loss at WrestleMania 42.

Speaking with The Takedown on Sports Illustrated, Cargill reflected on her nearly 170-day reign and her match with Rhea Ripley. She credited Ripley’s experience but made it clear she believes she contributed equally to the performance.

“She can’t go out there and have that stellar match if I don’t put on a show as well. Rhea has always had amazing dance partners. She’s worked with Charlotte, she’s worked with Becky. It takes two to tango. I wasn’t nervous last year. I had a match with the great Naomi. I thought we had a superb match in itself. It wasn’t a title match, so obviously it’s not gonna have as much buzz around it, but I don’t think that this was any different. I just had a title. And a title doesn’t make me, I make the title,” Cargill said.

Cargill was also direct about what she felt was missing from her reign. She pointed to a lack of consistent, competitive matches as her main frustration.

“I wanted to wrestle more. I wanted more competitive matches. I wanted more grit. I really wanted to sink my teeth into whatever was being thrown at me. That’s all I wanted with my reign, but we didn’t get that as much as I wanted, and that’s fine. But now that I had a practice run, I’m gonna call it a practice run, I’m gonna say next time is gonna be totally different,” she said.

She also referenced her early wrestling experience, recalling advice from Shaquille O’Neal during her AEW debut alongside Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet, noting how it shaped her mindset in high-pressure situations.

“I’ve been around superstars my entire life. That first match in AEW, I was working with Cody Rhodes, and I was working with Shaquille O’Neal. Something that always sticks with me is that I asked him if he was nervous. He was like, ‘Nervous? I can go out there, I could trip, fall, whatever. I’m still gonna be me. I’m still a star,’” Cargill said.

Cargill originally won the WWE Women’s Championship in November 2025 from Tiffany Stratton and held the title until WrestleMania 42 Sunday, where Ripley ended her reign.

Her comments indicate a shift in focus moving forward, with an emphasis on in-ring output and consistency ahead of a potential second title run.

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