Charles Edward Betts, born on March 8, 1986, in Saint Michael, Minnesota, is known to the WWE Universe as Chad Gable. Currently 39 years old, he performs on the Raw brand and holds the WWE Speed Championship for 182 days. Gable is also a member of American Made, alongside Brutus Creed, Julius Creed, and Ivy Nile.
Before making waves in professional wrestling, Gable had a successful amateur wrestling career.
He competed at the 2012 Olympics in London. He won against Keitani Graham from the Federated States of Micronesia in the qualification round to proceed to face off against Pablo Shorey of Cuba, losing 3-0, thus eliminating him from the competition.
Here's a look at his journey, titles, and signature moves that have made him a standout performer.
Early Career (2003-2013)
Under his real name, Betts debuted in his home state of Minnesota on October 26, 2003, in Midwest Pro Wrestling (MPW). His first match was against the reigning champion Casanova for the MPW Cruiserweight Championship.
Read also: The Life of Chad Everett Harris
The following year on April 25, 2004, Betts formed a one-time tag team known in MPW as Team Storm with Kurt Pope. Together they won their first and only tag match defeating Johnny Emerald & Version 2. He wrestled his final MPW match on August 8, 2004 against Arik Cannon, ending in a draw.
In 2005, Betts continued wrestling in his home state appearing in a single match for Northern Impact Wrestling (NIW), against Kid Krazy. After a seven-year hiatus, Betts returned on November 17, 2012 to wrestle in local state shows including Pro Wrestling Battleground (PWB) where he challenged the reigning champion Luther Wilson III for the PWB Breakout Championship but did not succeed in winning the title.
During his final match in PWB, Betts held the PWB Championship, successfully retaining the title against challenger Renny D. He later appeared in Minnesota's American Wrestling Federation (AWF) between January and February 2013, in which he won his only two matches, defeating Aaron Corbin and future WWE 205 Live superstar Arya Daivari.
On March 9, 2013, Betts debuted in Minnesota Independent Wrestling (MIW), where he defeated Benjamin Sailer.
WWE Career
In November 2013, Betts announced that he had signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He made his in-ring debut as Chad Gable at an NXT house show in Cocoa Beach, Florida on September 5, 2014 where he defeated Troy McClain.
Read also: "Married to Evil": Chad Graves
On September 6, Gable defeated McClain again. On September 13, Gable was first defeated by CJ Parker. On February 6, Gable scored a win over Mike Rallis. Six days later on the February 12 NXT Taping, Gable defeated Rallis again.
The following day on February 13, Gable defeated Rallis. On February 20, Gable lost to Solomon Crowe. On February 21, Gable defeated Michael Carter. On March 12, Gable defeated Rallis. During March 13 and March 14, Gable suffered consecutive defeats to Solomon Crowe. On April 2 Gable lost to Crowe.
On the April 3 edition of NXT, Gable teamed with allies Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton in a losing six-man tag team match against Mike Rallis, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson. On April 4 and April 10 Gable lost to Solomon Crowe in singles action. On April 11, Gable wrestled and lost to Steve Cutler. On April 18 Gable once more endured another lost to Solomon Crowe in singles competition. During the May 1st, 2nd and 7th editions of NXT Gable endured consecutive defeats by Mojo Rawley.
Mike Rallis would defeat Gable on the May 9th and 23rd editions of NXT. Bull Dempsey handed Gable with a defeat on May 14. The month of May concluded with losing singles matches, first against Solomon Crowe on May 29 and again against Mojo Rawley on May 30. On June 5, Gable lost to Tye Dillinger. On the June 18 NXT taping, Gable teamed with Jason Jordan to defeat Steve Cutler and Elias Samson. On July 9, Gable & Jordan defeated Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. On July 11, Gable lost to Aiden English for the first time in singles action against each other.
American Alpha
Gable made his main roster debut during the August 9, 2016 edition of Smackdown, alongside his NXT tag team partner Jason Jordan. Known as American Alpha during the latter period of their time in NXT, they quickly became part of the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Title Tournament scene, advancing in the first round after eliminating team Breezango (Fandango & Tyler Breeze).
Read also: Vallow-Daybell Trial: Key Evidence
American Alpha advanced to the Fatal Four-Way title match held on September 25, involving the defending champions Heath Slater & Rhyno, Breezango (Fandango & Tyler Breeze) and The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso). Although unsuccessful in winning the titles on that occasion, Gable and Jordan would continue to pursue Tag Team gold for the remaining months of 2016, in other tournaments and qualifier matches.
On the March 21, 2017 SmackDown, American Alpha lost the tag titles to The Usos. After July 16, American Alpha dissolved after Jason Jordan's departure from the team as a result of his draft to the Raw roster.
Teaming with Shelton Benjamin
Gable formed a new team with former tag team champion Shelton Benjamin. The new team won their debut match during the August 29th episode of SmackDown, defeating The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor). Gable and Benjamin quickly joined the tag team title picture, wrestling in their first title match on October 9 in a Four-Way against the defending tag team champions The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso), along with challengers Breezango (Fandango & Tyler Breeze) and The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods).
Throughout the months of November and December 2017, Gable and Benjamin continued to be involved in tag team title matches, including a Four Way title match at Clash Of Champions where they met The Usos, Aiden English & Rusev and The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston). On December 26, Gable and Benjamin won a Number 1 Contendership Triple Threat match after defeating Aiden English & Rusev and The New Day members Big E & Xavier Woods.
During the December 28 Holiday Tour, Gable and Benjamin met the tag champions The Usos in a Triple Threat match involving Big E & Xavier Woods. During the New Year's special edition of SmackDown on January 2, 2018, Gable and Benjamin once more had a title match against The Usos. During the match, both teams made simultaneous tags to their partners.
Both teams eventually found themselves out of the ring and at the latter moments of their title match, causing confusion as to who were the legal participants. Once inside the ring, Gable and Benjamin administered a top-rope powerbomb to one half of the Usos team, allowing Gable to secure a pin. However, a second referee entered the ring to challenge the decision, pointing out the fact that Gable was not the legal man, nor was his opponent. The match was restarted and resulted in the Usos successfully defeating Gable and Benjamin, to retain the tag team titles.
Gable and Benjamin continued their feud with The Usos for the tag team titles throughout the remainder of the month, reaching its peak on January 28 at the Royal Rumble, in a Best Two Out Of Three Falls match won by the defending champions. They spent the course of February and March involved in title matches against The Usos while also competing against challenger teams including The New Day and Aiden English & Rusev during the WrestleMania house show tour.
They had their final tag title matches in two consecutive April house shows, again meeting defeat by the reigning champions The Usos. At WrestleMania 34, both Gable and Benjamin entered the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal that was eventually won by Matt Hardy.
Move to Raw
After the 2018 Superstar Shake-up, Gable was assigned to Raw. He wrestled his first match on the May 7 episode of Monday Night RAW, losing to Jinder Mahal, also drafted from SmackDown. On May 21, he wrestled his second Raw singles match, losing to Dolph Ziggler. On the following week on May 28, Gable was defeated by Drew McIntyre. During the June 18 episode of Raw, Gable lost to Jinder Mahal in a singles rematch.
Three months later, Gable returned on the September 3 edition of Raw, teaming with Bobby Roode in a tag match defeating The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor). During the September 10 edition of Raw, Gable & Roode defeated The Ascension in a rematch. Their rivalry continued during the September 17 episode of RAW, with Gable defeating Ascension member Viktor. The following week on September 24, Gable was defeated by Viktor's partner Konnor.
The following month, Gable returned for the October 8 episode of RAW, where he and Roode defeated The Ascension in a rematch. The following month, Gable and Roode returned for the November 12 episode of Monday Night RAW, during which they won a Survivor Series Qualifying Tag Team Battle Royal. During the Survivor Series Kickoff, Gable and Roode competed in the Twenty Man Tag Team Elimination match as part of Team RAW. The match ended with Team SmackDown LIVE emerging victorious.
After Survivor Series, Gable and Roode returned on the November 19 episode of Monday Night RAW, during which they defeated reigning RAW Tag Team Champions AOP (Akam & Rezar) in a non-title tag team match. Returning the following month on the December 3 episode of RAW, Gable & Roode lost a Three-On-Two Handicap match against team AOP & Drake Maverick.
RAW Tag Team Champion
The following week on the December 10 episode of RAW, Gable & Roode defeated team AOP in a title match to win the RAW Tag Team Champion for the first time in their WWE careers. This marked Gable's third Tag Team Championship reign.
Gable and Roode entered a feud against The Revival beginning during the Christmas Eve Episode of RAW. The title match led to a confusion between legal competitors, resulting in Gable securing a pinfall over Revival member Scott Dawson, to successfully retain the tag team titles. After replay footage later revealed Dawson was in fact not legally tagged into the match prior to the eventual pinfall, it was decided a rematch would be held.
Gable and Roode met The Revival in a title rematch held the following year during the January 7 episode of RAW. It was also decided the rematch would be contested with Lumberjack rules included. The match concluded with further controversy after Gable and Dawson were engaged in roll-up pin attempts. With help from Bobby Roode, Gable was able to roll Dawson into a final pin, but his opponent's foot landed on the bottom rope. However, this was not noticed by the referee who performed a three-count on Dawson, declaring Gable and Roode the victors and reigning Tag Team Champions.
Their title reign ended the following month on the February 11 episode of Monday Night RAW, during which Gable and Roode lost to The Revival in a title rematch. The following month on the March 18 episode of Monday Night RAW, Gable received the opportunity to wrestle Olympic champion Kurt Angle. After competing in the André The Giant Memorial Battle Royal during the WrestleMania 35 Kickoff, Gable's final RAW show appearances were spent in tag matches during the month of April.
205 Live and Return to SmackDown
Maintaining WWE's cruiserweight division weight-limit of 205 lbs or less, Gable debuted on the June 11 episode of 205 Live, during which he won a singles match against Gentleman Jack Gallagher via count-out. After the 2019 Superstar Draft, Gable returned to the SmackDown Live brand. His early appearances involved backstage segments during which he would be secretly or directly antagonized for his alleged "smaller stature", by rivals including Elias and Gable's former tag team partner Shelton Benjamin.
King of the Ring Tournament
Gable made his in-ring return on the August 27 episode of SmackDown Live, featuring the return of the King Of The Ring Tournament. Gable advanced in the first round after eliminating Shelton Benjamin. The following month on the September 3 episode of SmackDown Live, Gable advanced in the quarter final after eliminating Andrade. On the same night, he would face Shane McMahon in the semifinals matchup of the tournament after his original opponent, Elias, withdrew due to injury. Their match would turn out to be a 2-out-of-3 falls match with Kevin Owens as the special guest referee. Gable would go on to win with some assistance from Owens. On the September 16 episode of Raw, Gable would lose to Baron Corbin in the finals. Corbin would mock Gable on the following SmackDown episode, starting a feud between the two.
At Hell in a Cell, Gable defeated Corbin. He would later on be re-branded as 'Shorty G' after a request made by Corbin before their pay-per-view match to the announcers to call him 'Shorty Gable'.
The "Shorty G" Gimmick
Vince McMahon wanted to help give Gable a bit of a push... but unable to see past Gable's size, he chose to do it by having Gable try to take on the abuse and bullying he'd received from heels as a badge of honor and rechristening himself "Shorty G," wearing a basketball jersey and emphasizing his lack of height rather than his very impressive amateur wrestling credentials. This not only failed to accompany Gable actually winning any wrestling matches (because, after all, he was still too short to be fully credible in Vince's eyes), the whole gimmick was a solution in search of a problem for everyone but Vince McMahon, and made Gable look like a wimp and a weirdo until it was retired. Gable himself has admitted in a 2024 interview that he wasn't very fond of it and sees it as a low point in his career.
10 Gimmicks That Destroyed A WWE & WCW Wrestler's Career
The Heel Turn and American Made
Gable's 2024 heel run has him demean his Alpha Academy stablemates, but fans love him because he is such a douchebag who you want Otis to finally stand up to, which would eventually happen on June 17, 2024. This then continued when Uncle Howdy specifically decided to target him because, again, he's such a douchebag who deserves his karma.
There's definitely a case to be made that he's this in the period of him turning heel on Sami to forming American Made throughout 2024. While he does play a good douchebag heel whom you want to see Otis beat up, Chad essentially gets turned into a Butt-Monkey who constantly gets made a joke of before he can build up any good, genuine heat on himself with serious in-ring accomplishments like getting more wins or winning any singles titles.
Had Otis taken him on and demolished him in a one-on-one blowoff match to establish his independence, Chad would've definitely deserved it and it would've been satisfying. However, for Chad to repeatedly get beaten by Sami to establish how much he doesn't belong in the IC bracket, nearly get murdered and pinned by the Wyatt Sick6 repeatedly for weeks on end, get squashed by Braun Strowman, and get treated as the weak link of his own faction in American Made over and over again can start feeling like excessive amounts of punishment after a while when a simple "Otis kicks the crap out of Chad Gable and goes his own way" story would've sufficed.
Wrestling Profile: Signature Moves and Style
Chad Gable is known for his technical wrestling style, drawing from his amateur wrestling background. His signature moves include:
- Alpha-Plex
- Ankle Lock
- Chaos Theory
- Moonsault
Championships and Accomplishments
Chad Gable has won a total of 5 championships in major promotions during his career.
| Championship | Times Won |
|---|---|
| WWE Raw Tag Team Championship | 1 |
| WWE Speed Championship | 1 (current) |
He is currently the reigning WWE Speed Champion, holding the title for 182 days.
Alternate Character Interpretation
While working on WWE commentary, Big E. Langston voiced the opinion that Gableâs 2024 heel run as the domineering head of an abusive wrestling school came from a place of trauma and Inferiority Superiority Complex thanks to previously being saddled with the awful âShorty Gâ gimmick.
Fan Nickname
"Perc Gable" for his heel run in 2024, as it's been often compared to Kurt Angle's run in TNA as "Wrestling Machine" AKA Perc Angle.
He Really Can Act
To add even more onto the long laundry list of Kurt Angle comparisons, one more is the eventual (and possibly surprising) reveal that under the stoic "game face" of an Olympic caliber wrestler, is someone who is able to be really, really funny when he wants to.
Shocking Moments
No one would ever accuse Chad Gable of not knowing how to wrestle, but as an amateur champion he tends toward a more figuratively and literally grounded style. Thus, when he whipped out some insane high-flying lucha moves like a 540 moonsalt during his Wrestlemania 41 match as El Grande Americano, it turned quite a few heads.
Popular articles:
tags: #Chad
