Big-match losers: Week 16 – WWE Characterisation project

Hello reader! This is week 16 of my year-long WWE Characterisation project. A little reminder, what you can find here is ‘cold’ analysis based on what’s presented to us on-screen. I am solely interested in the different ways character is presented to us, and how character arcs emerge.

If you haven’t read my article summarising my findings from the project so far, please find it here. Thank you!

Jade Cargill – SmackDown

At the conclusion of SummerSlam, I suggested Cargill needs to rediscover her competitive focus – a key part of her character. So, it makes sense that this week Cargill and Charlotte Flair look to settle their feud, which has cost them both numerous individual opportunities to win gold.

In a backstage interview, Flair challenges Cargill to go to the ring alone without her friends, and bills the bout as “Two alphas, one ring.” The style of fight is high-intensity and high-impact, featuring a lot of grappling and brawling. What does this mean for the Cargill character? Well, as usual, the commentators promote her strength – “The power of Cargill [is] ridiculous”. But there’s character development in the commentators suggesting a more technical or cerebral side to Cargill: “How impressive has Cargill been with these reversals?” Despite Cargill’s “impressive” showing, in which she “steps up” to Flair’s level, once again she loses a big match as her usual numbers-game antics are neutralised by Flair, Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley.   

Cargill’s big-match record at WrestleMania and beyond now reads: two title losses to Rhea Ripley, one title loss to Tiffany Stratton, the women’s MitB match, and now to Flair. As I have suggested in previous weeks, the narrative tension here is whether Cargill is as feared as she claims. In week 4, I said, “She presents as high-status and confident, yet her actions hint at a fear within herself.” The issue now is she presents as high status and confident, but her big-match record is making it harder and harder for her to authenticate her usual self-promotion. It seems only a matter of time before an adversary verbalises this, pushing Cargill to either find new ways to gain an advantage, or completely leave behind all thoughts of title gold if her emotions are piqued.

Seth Rollins – Raw

The previous week on Raw, prior to SummerSlam, Rollins said, “I would have to figure out who I am on the other side of this if I can’t get that W”.  We now know that Rollins did not “get that W”, but nevertheless appeared to find a measure of catharsis in a post-match gesture of solidarity with former ally Roman Reigns. This week, Rollins is absent from Raw. This suggests that defeat is provoking a level of introspection in Rollins – he may be both physically and mentally damaged by his defeat to Reigns. Having failed in his stated goal of reclaiming the world title, his absence may also suggest shame. Embarrassment is a possible emotion – he doesn’t want to show his face. Most importantly, an element of uncertainty remains that can only be resolved by clear action from Rollins. His character will surely need to regain a sense of protagonism to move past this episode. As for what form that will take, we’ll soon find out.