Olympian, Leader, Deserving Champion- The Chad Gable Saga
You can only be overlooked so many times
Chad Gable is a star. There is no denying his presence with the WWE Universe. The catchphrases, being a lovable guy, the support you need when you get knocked down over and over; that is Chad Gable. Sorry, that WAS Chad Gable.
So when Gable mercifully beat down his “friend” Sami Zayn after their battle for the Intercontinental Championship in Winnipeg, Canada on the April 15th edition of Monday Night Raw, he had finally SNAPPED! Gable was tired of being overlooked, overshadowed by men who thought they were deserving of the spotlight. Zayn being one of those men.
Let’s take a step back first.
Gable’s career in WWE has been nothing short of both heartbreaking and impressive. Joining forces with now WWE Producer Jason Jordan in American Alpha, the team gained success in NXT and on Smackdown in 2016-2017. They held gold on both shows, though their reigns would each be under 100 days. Both men would be put on separate brands during the draft thus ending their teaming days. After that team, Gable would go on to win gold with 2 other men in tag team competition- Bobby Roode and Otis. Roode and Gable won the Raw Tag Team Championships at the end of 2018. The pair did not last long as a team and split soon after losing the tag titles.
When Gable was going through a rough time in his career, Shorty G, he realized he needed a change. He needed the Alpha Academy. The Alpha Academy, in the beginning, was Gable and Otis. Gable helped Otis, his big guy, find his place. And in 2022, the pair won the Raw Tag Team Championships, and marked Otis’ first gold in WWE. The team was over with the crowd with the “Thank You” and “Shoosh” catchphrases taking off with fans.
Soon enters Maxxine Dupri, who wanted Otis for herself. To make him a model- a star. After a few weeks of back and forth, Dupri came to the conclusion that Otis wanted to be with Gable, and decided to join him. Cheering them on, she became the manager of Alpha Academy. Not too long after joining, Dupri made her in-ring debut on Raw in a mixed person tag match against the Viking Raiders (Eric and Ivar) and Valhalla. Dupri even got the win after all the coaching from Gable!
Although being the leader, the coach if you will of Alpha Academy, Gable wanted to have success on his own. Dear reader, you cannot blame him. He never held singles gold in WWE and he was determined to change that. With the Intercontinental Championship being on RAW, he set his sights on the dominant champion- Gunther.
Gunther was undefeated, a monster some may say.
Gunther thought Gable was beneath him- both in ring and out. Gable, determined to prove the champion and all other doubters wrong, was challenged to last 5 minutes in the ring with Gunther. What did he do? Lasted the 5 minutes and when Gunther realized that the fight in Gable could not be tamed, wanted the match to continue. With the loss to the champion, Gable did not stay down. He won a Fatal 4 Way match against Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Riddle, and Ricochet to become the official number 1 contender for Gunther’s title.
After becoming number 1 contender, the 2 men squared off on RAW and the world was shocked when Gable won- via count-out… But this was the first technical singles loss in Gunther’s main roster run. That had to count for something right?
It did.
The technical win over Gunther got Gable 1 more shot at the championship he so desperately wanted. On the September 4th episode of RAW, Gable took Gunther to the limit. Multiple close calls, the crowd behind Gable to defeat his Goliath. Alas, Gable was unable to pin or submit the dominant champion. Gable’s family sat ringside, his daughter in tears as she watched her father get defeated by the behemoth.
Watching his daughter sobbing, Gable felt that heartbreak. He knew he could have been the one to finally defeat Gunther. Then Sami Zayn enters the picture.
A former Intercontinental Champion in his own right, Zayn had stepped up to be the one saying he could defeat Gunther and put his reign of terror to rest. Zayn had doubts in himself and if he could truly beat Gunther. In previous encounters with Gunther, Zayn was not successful. This time it had to be different. He was going against Gunther on the grandest stage of them all- WrestleMania XL (40).
With those doubts creeping up, Gable saw this as an opportunity to help Zayn, even though he wanted to be the guy to defeat Gunther. Gable told Zayn he was the only who knew Gunther’s weaknesses and took it upon himself to help Zayn train for his big match. After a few weeks of training with the coach, Zayn did in fact do the unthinkable. During Night 1 of WrestleMania, he gave it all he got and ended the 666 day reign of Gunther, becoming the new Intercontinental Champion.
Gable was proud of his friend, but felt like he deserved some of the credit. I mean after all, he did help Zayn train. He told him to face his fears to get the job done. Zayn, seeing that, decided to give Gable a crack at his championship as a “thank you”.
The aforementioned match (from the top of this page) was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Gable was done being the nice guy- done being the guy everyone overlooked. He snatched Zayn out of his wife’s embrace ringside and proceeded to beat down Zayn. The rage took over. He was hell bent on ripping Zayn’s ankle off the bone.
Gable is not the bad guy here. Someone can only take so much before the built up anger explodes in the ring. It has happened to many people, Becky Lynch being a prime example. She snapped on Charlotte after she tried to take away Lynch’s opportunities. Gable simply had enough. He wanted the top spot, he wanted to be that guy.
Chad Gable is going to be a singles champion in WWE. He is going to prove to everyone why he can and will be a top guy in the company. Gable is going to get the spotlight he has earned. [and if he adds the Creeds and re-creates Team Angle then that is just an added bonus for me dear reader]