Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill are leading the charge on SmackDown. (Credit: Cooper Neill /WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
At WWE SummerSlam 2025, Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill represented a true changing of the guard on SmackDown.
For the better part of the last decade, established stars like Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair have dominated the women’s main event scene. But at MetLife Stadium, Stratton and Cargill clashed in a battle between two stars who should be cornerstones of the division for years to come.
Cargill, the 2025 Queen of the Ring winner, went one-on-one with Stratton, the 2024 Money in the Bank winner, to determine not just who would hold the WWE Women’s Championship but also which star WWE would build its future around.
WWE SummerSlam 2025 Results for Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill
Just a month after becoming Queen of the Ring, Jade Cargill looked like a surefire bet to add one more accolade to her resume at WWE SummerSlam 2025: WWE Women’s Champion. But she didn’t.
After a back-and-forth babyface battle, Stratton, the clear underdog despite being champion, shockingly defeated Cargill with the Prettiest Moonsault Ever. That surprising victory adds another impressive one to a long list of successful title defenses for Stratton, who’s also beaten Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax and Trish Stratus.
Some of the key highlights in the WWE Women’s Championship match at SummerSlam were:
- Early on, Stratton hit a Swanton Bomb that shockingly only got a two-count.
- Jade quickly hit an impressive Eye of the Storm sit-out powerbomb.
- Stratton hit a rolling senton and went for a moonsault, but Jade knocked her off the top rope, hit a suplex and went for a second rolling one only for Stratton to counter with a driver.
- Stratton went for the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, and Jade got her feet up, resulting in a nasty stomach-first landing for Stratton. Cargill immediately hit her Jade finisher and went for the pin but overrotated, so Stratton was able to get a rope break.
- Cargill attempted a Jaded from the second rope, but Stratton counter with a flipping toss. Cargill hit the Prettiest Moonsault Ever and then shockingly pinned Cargil for the 1-2-3.
Stratton has held the WWE Women’s Championship since the first SmackDown of 2025 in January, when she successfully cashed in her Money in the Bank briefcase on friend-turned-foe Nia Jax. Though this has been underwhelming title reign for one of WWE’s brightest young prospects, it is continuing after all.
A disappointing WrestleMania rivalry with Flair and a lackluster feud with Stratus, who herself called the feud “boring,” defined what has been a pedestrian title reign, one with solid matches but a lack of intrigue week-to-week.
WWE SummerSlam 2025 Results: What’s Next for Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill?
Stratton’s WWE SummerSlam win could, and should, serve as a turning point for the talented 26-year-old, who is still one WWE’s most well-rounded rising stars.
WWE really had no choice but to turn Stratton babyface when she cashed in on Jax this January, but the follow-up to that epic moment did not come remotely close to matching the build-up to it. Why? Well, there are a slew of reasons, including a wonky feud with Flair, but at the heart of Stratton’s struggles to truly click as champion was the fact that she was working in an unnatural babyface Role.
Stratton is clearly more fit to be a heel, and her win over Cargill could serve at the impetus that ultimately leads to Stratton turning back to her heel roots. Ideally, WWE will either move on from this brief rivalry with Cargill immediately or end it within the next month or so. WWE needs to do some creative rebuilding of Stratton’s image, and a good match with Cargill at SummerSlam was a nice start. But Stratton must get an intriguing long-term feud ASAP.
As for Cargill, reports have indicated that she is in line for a massive push on SmackDown. In fact, the only reason that push didn’t start in early 2025 was Cargill’s injury, which forced the company to delay plans to make her women’s champion by several months.
That’s why Cargill’s SummerSlam loss was such a shocker.
Heading into SummerSlam, the expectation was that the former AEW star would be portrayed as nearly unbeatable, just as she’s been for most of her WWE career. With top SmackDown names like Alexa Bliss and Flair busy in the tag title picture, SummerSlam seemed like the right time to strap the proverbial rocket on Cargill.
Instead, as is the case with Stratton, WWE may be forced to turn Cargill heel or help her rebound from her surprising SummerSlam loss by moving on to a few rivalries with some of SmackDown’s upper midcarders.
That could include the likes of Jax or even Chelsea Green, but after Cargill’s unforeseen loss at WWE SummerSlam, the company’s long-term goal should be to build her back up after a disappointing outcome in MetLife Stadium.
