Every Wrestling Rookie Of The Year: Where Are They Now?

2. 2021: Jade Cargill

Essa Rios Lita
AEW

Jade was excellent in her debut, celebrating each of her excellent power moves like early '90s Scott Steiner, but was a lot better before what turned into a numbingly predictable TBS title reign. Some of the matches were good, particularly an improbably dramatic Rampage outing against Anna Jay. Her trash-talk - "Nobody cares about that karate sh*t" - was tremendous.

It was looking great for a while, but then the match quality dipped. She frequently got lost, and with zero credible challengers to stomp through, few people cared towards the end of her big push.

She hasn't been seen since Double Or Nothing last month, and if the last days of her reign are any indication, AEW are probably struggling to come up with ideas for her.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!