The Rock, Cena Praise Ziggler; Stratton on Jade Cargill; Elimination Chamber Rumors

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

---

The Rock, Cena Herald Ziggler Following WWE Release

In the wake of WWE's merger with UFC to form TKO Group Holdings last week, several members of the talent roster were released Thursday.

The most high-profile Superstar departing the company is Dolph Ziggler, who signed with WWE back in 2004 and made his main roster debut in 2005.

Ziggler spent nearly two decades in WWE and clearly made a huge impression on two of the biggest stars in the history of the promotion.

After news of Ziggler's release broke, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and John Cena both posted about him on X, formerly known as Twitter, and touted his impressive accomplishments:

Ziggler was a two-time world heavyweight champion during his tenure, plus he held the Intercontinental Championship six times, Tag Team Championship four times, United States Championship twice and NXT Championship once. He also won the 2012 Money in the Bank ladder match and later cashed the contract in successfully.

While Ziggler was never on top for long as a world champion and main eventer, but he was one of WWE's most talented and consistent performers for many years.

Ziggler has long been an elite in-ring performer, and it always felt like he was supremely underrated when it came to his character and promo work.

In recent months, Ziggler had largely disappeared from WWE programming, and although there wasn't much left for him to accomplish in the company, he seems to still have plenty of gas left in the tank at the age of 43.

There are few more significant endorsements in wrestling than those from The Rock and Cena, which proves how favorably Ziggler is viewed in the business.

If DZ has any interest in continuing his pro wrestling career, he will likely have promotions like AEW, Impact Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling lining up for a chance to sign him.

---

Stratton Wants Cargill in NXT

Amid rumors that Jade Cargill is WWE bound, former NXT women's champion Tiffany Stratton is hopeful she will show up in NXT at some point.

During an interview with WrestlingNews.co (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Stratton gave a positive response when asked about Cargill possibly appearing on NXT programming: "Yeah, for sure. Bring her on in. I don't know much about her. But I've seen photos of her and she's beautiful. But yeah, I'm not sure what's really going on there. So I guess we'll see."

PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson reported this month that Cargill's AEW contract was believed to have expired, and she was expected to report to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News) later reported that WWE's expected signing of Cargill was viewed as a big deal within the company and that plans were in place to give her a significant push upon arrival.

When Cargill signed with AEW in 2020, she had never wrestled an official match, but that didn't stop AEW from giving her a huge push.

She went on to become TBS champion and won her first 60 matches before falling to Kris Statlander at Double or Nothing in May.

Cargill took time off before returning for a rematch against Statlander this month, but she lost again, seemingly signaling her departure from the company.

If Cargill does indeed sign with WWE, it is entirely possible she will go straight to the main roster since she already has plenty of star power and some name recognition from her time in AEW.

However, if WWE wants to get Jade acclimated to her new surroundings and ease her in before debuting on the main roster, a pit stop in NXT may not be the worst thing for her.

---

Rumored Elimination Chamber Start Time

WWE announced Thursday that the Elimination Chamber premium live event will take place at Optus Stadium in Perth, Western Australia, on Feb. 24.

With WWE returning to Australia for the first time since Super Show-Down in 2018, it led to plenty of questions regarding what time the show would air in relation to American viewers.

According to Meltzer (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), it is expected that the show will air live on Peacock beginning at 6 a.m. ET.

That means it could be an early Saturday morning for stateside WWE fans if they prefer to watch the event live rather than on-demand after the fact.

Usually, WWE does all it can to cater to American viewers since it is the company's primary fanbase, but a 6 a.m. ET start would mean a 6 p.m. start in Australia, which would be far more palatable than usual for Aussie fans.

Over the past few years, WWE has branched out significantly when it comes to international events, holding them in countries such as England, Canada, Wales, Saudi Arabia and Puerto Rico.

That decision has largely made for more entertaining premium live events and more lively crowds, so WWE's decision to go back to Australia makes plenty of sense from a business and show quality perspective.

---

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below.