There’s a simple reason WWE didn’t run Charlotte Flair vs. Jade Cargill at SummerSlam: one of them is likely leaving with a title.
Per WrestleVotes, the company opted against the singles match because both Flair and Cargill are in the Interim WWE Women’s Championship ladder match, and one of the two is expected to win it. Booking them against each other beforehand would have stepped on that payoff.
A Flair vs. Cargill program had reportedly been in the works before Rhea Ripley’s meniscus injury forced WWE to rework its plans. With Ripley sidelined and unable to defend the Women’s Championship, WWE pivoted to a five-woman ladder match to crown an interim titleholder, folding both Flair and Cargill into it alongside Tiffany Stratton, Chelsea Green, and a fifth competitor still to be named between Giulia and Lash Legend.
The interim champion will eventually face Ripley to determine an undisputed champion once she’s medically cleared, which WWE hopes will be sometime in the fall.
SummerSlam takes place across two nights, August 1 and 2, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, with the ladder match set for Night 2.
