Tree species
In one of the best WWE segments of the year so far, Naomi revealed that she was the person who attacked Jade Cargill, which saw Naomi slam Cargill onto a card windshield and take her out of action for months. Since then Naomi fully embraced her new heel role and even cost Cargill a win, but on tonight’s SmackDown Naomi’s heel era reached a whole new level, as Naomi delivered an emotional and seriously creepy new video promo that has everyone buzzing. You can watch the full promo in the video above.
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In the video, Naomi brings up some salient points, including referencing when Bianca Belair gave Naomi credit for inspiring her run in wrestling. That was real by the way, as Belair told that story in an interview that you can see below, telling a story about seeing Naomi at a live event before she started at the performance center.
Naomi talked about how she always does the right thing, and that includes taking out Jade. She starts to cry as she asks how Jade came in out of nowhere to take her place alongside Bianca. Naomi showed photos of them together since her arrival in WWE and pointed out that Jade wasn’t there.
Naomi then starts to lean into more horror elements as she smiles creepily through a window as the ominous piano keeps playing. She then says she’s done being pushed to the side, being too nice, being undervalued, being underappreciated, and being the third wheel.
Naomi ends the promo by issuing a message to Cargill. Naomi says, “Moving forward, here’s my message to you Jade. If you continue to be in my way, I strongly advise you to…proceed…with…caution.” You can watch the full video above.
Naomi’s heel turn has been excellent so far, and part of why it’s working so well is that she’s making a pretty solid case and pulling from real history to back it up. There’s real emotion to it all as well, and fans can relate to how Naomi has been underutilized at various points during her time in WWE as well, so it’s easy to get behind this new not dealing with it anymore attitude and persona.
She is going to make Cargill’s life rather difficult for the foreseeable future, but the real question mark is how Belair fits into all this. Belair doesn’t have a great relationship with Cargill or Naomi right now, so it remains to be seen if she ends up taking a side or feuding with both of them or one of them as time goes on.
What have you thought of Naomi’s heel turn so far? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things wrestling with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!