WWE planning Jade Cargill vs Rhea Ripley for WrestleMania 42 amid Bianca Belair's absence - Report

Jade Cargill will face the winner of the women’s Elimination Chamber.

2026 women’s Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan, after weeks of tease finally made her WrestleMania decision, picking Women’s World Champion Stephnaie Vaquer. This left WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill, who will now have to wait until Elimination Chamber to find out her opponent.

The 16th Elimination Chamber event will air live from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The event will feature the two men’s and women’s Chamber matches, with the winner securing the WrestleMania spot against the World Champion, remaining after the Royal Rumble announce their picks.

Tiffany Stratton, Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Kiana James, and Raquel Rodriguez will lock horns in the Women’s Elimination Chamber match to secure the title shot at WrestleMania. Originally, reported plans called for Cargill to take on Bianca Belair.

However, the plan was scrapped as Belair is still out of action due to injury. This led to confusion as to who Cargill will face at the ‘Grandest Stage,’ a question which now has some answers thanks to a report from Self-Made.

Also Read: Bianca Belair provides update after surgery for long term injury from WWE WrestleMania 41

WWE had Jade Cargill vs Rhea Ripley as a backup for WrestleMania

According to the report, the plans, dating back months, were for Belair to recover from the injury and face Cargill, which was the reason Jade won the title against Tiffany Stratton. However, the match is now unlikely to happen, even if Bianca makes an appearance, due to her finger surgery. The report also noted that Jade vs Rhea was always in WWE‘s back pocket.

“The very first time I heard rumblings of Rhea Ripley versus Jade Cargill was around WarGames. It was explained to me that WWE would prefer to have Bianca Belair healthy to face Jade Cargill. That’s the reason Jade won the championship — so they could do the match with Bianca.

It’s looking increasingly like Bianca may not be able to wrestle on the show, even if she’s planning to appear. Jade and Rhea is something they’ve always kind of kept in their back pocket. If worst comes to worst, they could just have Rhea win the Elimination Chamber and face Jade.”

Self-Made Pro also noted that as recently as last week, WWE was still actively making changes to the women’s matches at WrestleMania. Additionally, a potential showdown between Jade Cargill and Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 42 remains firmly on the table.

“So I say all that to say it’s very much in play. I can tell you this — as recently as last week, they were still changing the women’s matches for WrestleMania. That doesn’t necessarily mean the main matches, but possibly the surrounding matches connected to the title bouts.

They’re trying to figure out what to do with the other women who aren’t competing for one of the main championships. Like I said, they were still adjusting the women’s matches as of last week. Jade versus Ripley was very much in play the last time I heard from sources.”

[H/T: Ringside News]

The 42nd edition of WrestleMania will take place as a two-night event on April 18 and 19 at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. 

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