Chad Gable had to give up the guise of the Original El Grande Americano after losing the Mask vs. Mask match to El Grande Americano at AAA's Noche de Los Grandes event on May 30. Since then, Gable has been on a mission to apologize to every luchador he had disrespected along the way.
The former US Olympian began his apology tour on last week's SmackDown when he confronted Rey Fenix backstage. But that was just the beginning, as Gable had pissed off several others too so he pulled up to this week's Raw to mend fences with Penta first.
The reigning men's Intercontinental Champion appreciated Gable accepting that he was wrong. Penta, however, told Gable that if he were to actually do it right by Lucha Libre, he still had someone else to say sorry to. The former Alpha Academy member eventually apologized to Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee as well.
Mysterio admitted that he did want to knock Gable's head off last year when he started this fiasco. However, Rey's perception of Chad Gable changed completely after watching that universally-acclaimed Mask vs. Mask match. 'The Master of 619' said it was 'true Lucha Libre' and informed the Minnesotan that his apology was accepted.
As Gable was leaving, Mysterio pulled him back to tell the 40-year-old to make it right with the people whom he wronged well before putting himself under the guise of a mask. It's obvious that Mysterio was referring to Gable berating his Alpha Academy stablemates a while ago. While a reunion of sorts is likely in the cards, Gable had one major role to play on Raw apart from seeking a number of apologies.
The erstwhile Shorty G saved Mysterio and Penta from a beatdown inflicted on them by Ethan Page and Rusev. Penta retained his IC title in a stellar match with his longtime idol to keep his reign going. However, they got ambushed by Page and Rusev afterwards.
'The Lion of Bulgaria' then ripped off Rey Mysterio's mask in a despicable act while Page was stomping down on Penta, who had Mysterio's exposed face covered. Gable's music hit, the one that he used to have during his American Alpha days along with Jason Jordan, and the crowd went nuts.
Gable singlehandedly neutralized Page and Rusev with several German suplexes to stand tall. After wiping out the heels, the ex-leader of the Alpha Academy picked up Mysterio's mask and handed it over to Penta & Dragon Lee. The trio of luchadores got back up and gave thumbs-up to Gable, who had clearly learned to respect the Lucha Libre culture. This character development was widely hailed by the wrestling fans, both on the internet and in the arena.
Now that Chad Gable has done everything he could to establish that he has gained respect for the luchadores and their tradition, he might be moving on to getting back in the hunt for championship gold. The fans are urging WWE to not drop the ball with him this time around. He's never been more popular than he is at this point in time, which was exactly what AJ Styles also mentioned during his podcast.
'The Phenomenal One' even went on to say that WWE would be dumb to not capitalize on Chad Gable with the kind of momentum he has right now. The majority of fans are leaning towards him being the one to dethrone Penta for the Intercontinental Championship at this year's SummerSlam. The said PLE will be held in Gable's home state of Minnesota this year.
There wouldn't be a bigger missed opportunity than WWE not doing anything substantial with Gable at the 'Biggest Party of the Summer' in front of his own people. However, it'd be interesting to see if WWE is planning to move him to SmackDown, especially after his meeting with GM Nick Aldis last Friday.
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