Hello Reader! Let’s get to Week 23 – almost halfway through the project!
Jade Cargill – SmackDown
This week’s Cargill content is a backstage interview, a SmackDown Exclusive – i.e. not broadcast live on the show itself. Cargill’s group The Baddies corners adversary Tatum Paxley, once her friends Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss have departed. This opportunism gives Cargill’s group the feel of high school bullies. Note, at first B-Fab and Michin do the talking, while Cargill remains in the foreground of the shot, back turned to the other people but facing the camera. This positions Cargill as the most important player in the shot. It also means the viewer gets a clear view of her presumably expensive chain and watch.
When Cargill speaks, she proclaims her own authority. She then threatens Paxley: “just like I will drop you right now, right here”. Remember, Paxley’s friends are nowhere to be seen, so this is a cowardly act by Cargill. As Paxley replies, an exasperated Cargill paces away, almost moves out of shot a couple of times. This suggests a possible unpredictability – viewers of pro-wrestling are well versed in cheap shots. Instead, Cargill speculates that Flair and Bliss are not Paxley’s true friends. “You’re nothing but another body in this war,” Cargill says. And this is the narrative thread that has continued to be pulled the past weeks – who can you trust, what constitutes true friendship, and how does this relate to competing as a coherent unit?
Seth Rollins – Raw
Absent.
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