Dave Meltzer has reported further on the supposed backstage fallout between WWE stars Jade Cargill and Shayna Baszler.
Reports emerged last week to chronicle an altercation between the wrestlers following a tag match between Cargill and Belair against Bazler and Zoey Stark, prior to Cargill’s spell on the sidelines. Cargill was also said to have garnered backstage heat with a recent social media promo, taken to allude to her situation and rubbing some who had kept things quiet the wrong way.
In this week’s “Wrestling Observer Newsletter,” Meltzer clarified that he was told that none of the in-match botches described previously would have been at issue, and there was an understanding that Cargill was going to be pushed heavily for her look and prior run with AEW despite her relative inexperience in back-and-forth matches. Last week’s reports had mentioned a claim denied by Cargill’s side of things, where-in after a botched spot she said something about Baszler to the effect of “She needs to learn how to work.”
Meltzer wrote this week that the confrontation had started when Cargill pointed to a bruise on her arm, delivering the line directly to Baszler. Later, Cargill was said to have blamed others for problems in her matches, leading to Baszler confronting her again. One source said to have been there said Cargill then got in Bazler’s face, and other talent saw it and together with management diffused the situation.
Meltzer noted that there had been a lack of understanding over Cargill asking for time off over the holidays, coming from the AEW system which emphasizes broadcasting over house shows as opposed to WWE. But then she did later get legitimately injured, coinciding with her request and leading some to question whether it was real which was then exacerbated when she shot a Mountain Dew commercial during the time she was off. Meltzer iterated that those who had expressed doubts towards the injury initially had eventually come to understand it as legitimate.
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