Chad Gable

Chad Gable
Gable in April 2016
Birth name Charles Betts
Born (1986-03-08) March 8, 1986
Saint Michael, Minnesota, U.S.
Alma mater Northern Michigan University
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Chad Gable
Chas Betts
Billed height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Billed weight 202 lb (92 kg)[1]
Billed from Minneapolis, Minnesota[1]
Trained by Arik Cannon[2]
Dan Chandler[3]
Gregg Greeno[4]
WWE Performance Center
Debut September 5, 2014[5]

Charles "Chas" Betts (born March 8, 1986)[6] is an American professional wrestler who is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Chad Gable.

A prolific amateur wrestler who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Betts signed with WWE in late 2013 and underwent training before he was deployed to developmental branch NXT. A tag team specialist, he won the NXT Tag Team Championship with his partner Jason Jordan as American Alpha, before being called up to the main roster in 2016, where the two won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship before disbanding in mid-2017. He formed a tag team with Shelton Benjamin before being traded to Raw in the 2018 Superstar Shake-up.

Early life

Betts was born in Saint Michael, Minnesota.[6] He is a graduate of Northern Michigan University.[7]

Amateur wrestling career

Betts was a Minnesota high school state runner-up. He defeated Jordan Holm 2 to 0 in the final of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 84 kg category.[8] He progressed to the 2012 Summer Olympics, where he defeated Keitani Graham from the Federated States of Micronesia in the qualification round. He was eliminated from the competition in the next round by Pablo Shorey of Cuba, losing 3–0.

Professional wrestling career

WWE

Training (2013–2015)

In November 2013, Betts signed a contract with the professional wrestling promotion WWE. He was assigned to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida and adopted the ring name Chad Gable (a nod to Olympian Dan Gable).[9] He made his in-ring debut at a NXT house show in Cocoa Beach, Florida on September 5, 2014, defeating Troy McClain.[10] He made his television debut on the January 8, 2015 episode of NXT, losing to Tyler Breeze.[11]

Beginnings with American Alpha (2015–2017)

The American Alpha after winning the NXT Tag Team Championship at the NXT TakeOver: Dallas event in April 2016.

Starting in May 2015, NXT newcomer Chad Gable began a storyline with Jason Jordan, in which he tried to convince Jordan to form a new partnership, following the dissolution of Jordan's team with Tye Dillinger. After nearly two months of coaxing, Jordan finally agreed to a tag team match with Gable as his teammate. On the July 15 episode of NXT, Jordan and Gable were successful in their official debut together against the team of Elias Samson and Steve Cutler.[12] On September 2, Jordan and Gable competed in the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, beating the team of Neville and Solomon Crowe. After defeating the Hype Bros, they would get eliminated from the tournament by the team of Baron Corbin and Rhyno. On the November 18 episode of NXT, Jordan and Gable would call out main roster tag team The Ascension and defeat them. On the December 2 episode of NXT, Jordan and Gable would face another pair of former NXT Tag Team Champions The Vaudevillains and defeat them as well. At NXT TakeOver: London, Gable and Jordan were successful in a fatal-four way tag team match which was taped for the December 23 episode of NXT. On the January 8 tapings of NXT, the team of Jordan and Gable began using the name American Alpha. They squared off with Blake and Murphy on two separate occasions on the January 27 and February 24 episode's tapings, where they were successful both times, as well as teaming with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady against them and Dash and Dawson on the February 17 episode, where they victoriously emerged.

American Alpha faced off with the Vaudevillains on the March 16 episode of NXT in a number one contender's match where they emerged victorious, earning them an NXT Tag Team Championship match against Dash and Dawson, now called "The Revival", at NXT TakeOver: Dallas. The pair won the NXT Tag Team Championship at the event. They defeated the Vaudevillains on the April 20 episode of NXT.[13] On June 8 at NXT TakeOver: The End, American Alpha lost the titles back to The Revival, ending their reign at 68 days. After the match, they were assaulted by the debuting Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar), who were managed by legendary manager, Paul Ellering.[14] The pair subsequently failed to win back the NXT Tag Team Championship after being defeated by the Revival in a two out of three falls match on the July 6th episode of NXT before wrestling their final match on the brand on July 20, where they were defeated by The Authors of Pain.

As a result of the 2016 WWE draft on July 19, the team was drafted to the SmackDown brand, being their first tag team pick overall.[15] On the August 2 episode of SmackDown, American Alpha made their debut, defeating The Vaudevillains. The pair teamed with The Usos and The Hype Bros at SummerSlam to defeat the team of The Ascension, Breezango and The Vaudevillains. The pair then entered an eight-tag team tournament which would determine the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Champions, defeating Breezango in the first round to advance to the semi-finals where they faced The Usos. Despite defeating The Usos quickly on the September 6th episode of SmackDown, Gable's knee was kayfabe injured during a post-match assault when the Usos turned heel, rendering American Alpha unable to compete at Backlash and undoing their attempts to become the inaugural champions.

They returned on the September 20th episode to face the Usos in a number one contender's match to establish who would face inaugural Smackdown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Rhyno at No Mercy, where they were defeated due to Gable's injury, marking their first loss on the main roster. At the event, they would instead team with the Hype Bros to face the Ascension and the Vaudevillians where they were successful. On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, American Alpha defeated The Spirit Squad to qualify for Team SmackDown for the 10–on–10 Survivor Series tag team elimination match at Survivor Series. Team SmackDown was defeated by Team Raw at the event,with American Alpha being eliminated by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson after eliminating The Shining Stars. The duo won a tag team turmoil match on the following episode of SmackDown, giving them the right to face Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton of The Wyatt Family to establish the number one contenders for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship, but were defeated following the interference of Luke Harper. At TLC, the pair teamed with The Hype Bros and Apollo Crews to defeat the Ascension, the Vaudevillians and Curt Hawkins on the kickoff show.

On the December 27th episode of SmackDown Live, they defeated Randy Orton and Luke Harper of The Wyatt Family, Heath Slater and Rhyno, and The Usos in a four corners elimination match to become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions, celebrating with their families afterwards.[16] After defeating The Wyatt Family (Orton and Harper) in a rematch to retain their titles on January 10th, the pair would go on to defend their titles in a tag team turmoil match at Elimination Chamber successfully against The Ascension, Usos, Vaudevillians, Breezango and Heath Slater & Rhyno, entering fourth and eliminating the Usos and Ascension, despite an attack by the Usos after their elimination, continuing their feud. American Alpha would defeat the Ascension on the following SmackDown in a rematch and then Breezango the week after, being confronted by the Usos after both matches. On the March 21st episode of SmackDown Live, American Alpha lost the SmackDown Tag Team Championships to The Usos after suffering a non-title match loss to the pair the prior week. After making their Wrestlemania debut at WrestleMania 33 where both were unsuccessful in winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal they failed in their championship rematch to the Usos, being attacked by Primo and Epico afterwards, who defeated them the following week. American Alpha got revenge by defeating the duo the following week in a Beat the Clock Challenge.

On the June 20 episode of SmackDown, Chad Gable answered the United States Championship Open Challenge put forward by champion Kevin Owens where he was ultimately unsuccessful.[17] On the July 4 episode, he faced AJ Styles to qualify for the Independence Day Battle Royal to determine the number one contender for the U.S. Championship, but was defeated by Styles.[18] Afterwards in a WWE.com interview, Gable spoke about going solo, citing his will to fight against top competition.[19] On the July 17 episode of Raw, Jason Jordan was moved to the Raw brand after being revealed as the (kayfabe) illegitimate son of Raw General Manager Kurt Angle. This effectively disbanded the team.[20]

Teaming with Shelton Benjamin (2017–2018)

On the August 22 episode of SmackDown Live, General Manager Daniel Bryan announced that he had signed a returning Shelton Benjamin to team up with Gable, therefore creating a tag-team between the two. The following week on SmackDown Live, Gable and Benjamin picked up a win over The Ascension in their first match as a tag team. On the September 12 episode of SmackDown Live, Benjamin and Gable would defeat The Hype Bros and again in a rematch at Hell in a Cell. On the October 10 episode of SmackDown Live, Benjamin and Gable would defeat The Hype Bros, The Ascension and Breezango in a fatal four-way match to become the number one contenders for The Usos' SmackDown Tag Team Championship. On the November 7 episode of SmackDown Live, they received their title opportunity and won the match by countout, however the Usos retained their championships. After trading victories with The Usos the following weeks, they competed in a fatal-four way match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships against defending champions The Usos, The New Day, and the team of Rusev and Aiden English at Clash of Champions, but failed to win the titles. Two days later on SmackDown Live, Gable and Benjamin defeated The Usos in a non-title match. They had quietly turned heel during the period of time where they had been challenging The Usos for the Smackdown Live Tag Team Championships.

On the January 2, 2018 episode of SmackDown Live, they defeated The New Day and Rusev and English in a triple threat match to earn another shot at the SmackDown Tag Team titles, which they lost the following week after pinning the wrong twin for the apparent victory and then losing the impromptu rematch. The following week on SmackDown Live, the duo called out the referee and accused General Manager Daniel Bryan of being biased, which resulted in Bryan booking them for a two out of three falls match against The Usos at Royal Rumble, where they lost in two straight falls.[21] That following week, Gable and Benjamin interrupted an episode of Fashion Files, and traded insults with Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), challenging them to a match, Gable and Benjamin would eventually win the match. The next week, Gable and Benjamin mocked The New Day and faced them in a losing effort. On March 27, 2018 episode of Smackdown Live, he accompanied Benjamin to a match against Shinsuke Nakamura in a losing effort, after which they attacked AJ Styles before being fought off by Nakamura.

Teaming with Bobby Roode (2018–present)

Gable was drafted to Raw as part of the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, thus disbanding with Benjamin. On the April 23 episode of Raw, Gable would defeat Jinder Mahal on his first match on the brand, turning face in the process. On the May 7 episode of Raw, Gable would be defeated by Mahal in a rematch. On the May 21 episode of Raw, after defending Raw General Manager Kurt Angle from being insulted by Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, Gable would be defeated by Ziggler in a match later that night.[22] On the May 28 episode of Raw, Gable would be defeated by McIntyre.[23] On the September 3 episode of Raw, Gable formed a tag team with Bobby Roode (this being Gable's third different tag team to be apart of on the main roster) and went on to defeat The Ascension. Over the next few weeks on Raw, Gable & Roode would trade wins with the Ascension in both tag team and singles matches.

Other media

Video games

Gable appeared in WWE 2K17 and WWE 2K18 as a playable character.

Championships and accomplishments

Gable is a one-time NXT Tag Team Champion

Amateur wrestling

  • High School
    • Minnesota State Wrestling Champion (2004)
  • International Medals
    • World University Games silver medal (2006)
    • Pan-American Championships Gold medal (2012)
    • Gedza International silver medal (2012)
    • Pan-American Olympic Qualifier silver medal (2012)
    • Granma Cup Bronze medal (2012)
    • Dave Schultz Memorial International Gold medal (2012)
  • Olympic Games

Professional wrestling

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Chad Gable". WWE. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  2. Dan Chandler named USA Wrestling Greco-Roman coach of the year
  3. Minnesota's Chas Betts Ready to Live Out One Olympic-Sized Dream
  4. "Chad Gable profile at WrestlingData.com". WrestlingData.com. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Chad Gable: Profile & Match Listing". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  6. http://www.themat.com/usawrestling.org/nationalteams.php?page=showbio&ContactID=137
  7. http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=4&page=results
  8. Zaccardi, Nick (November 4, 2013). "Olympic wrestler Chas Betts joins WWE". NBC Sports. NBCUniversal. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  9. "Chad Gable match results at WrestlingData.com". Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  10. "WWE NXT: January 8, 2015". WWE. January 8, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  11. Trionfo, Richard (July 15, 2015). "WWE NXT REPORT: SASHA VERSUS CHARLOTTE, ZAYN UPDATE, MAIN EVENT FOR TAKEOVER ANNOUNCED, HAS JASON JORDAN FINALLY FOUND A TAG TEAM PARTNER HE CAN TRUST, AND MORE". PWInsider. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  12. Caldwell, James. "4/1 "NXT Takeover: Dallas" Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  13. Caldwell, James. "6/8 "NXT Takeover" Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report on "The End"". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  14. "2016 WWE Draft results: WWE officially ushers in New Era". WWE. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  15. Parks, Greg. "12/27 WWE Smackdown LIVE – Parks's Ongoing, Real-Time Report, including three title matches, John Cena's return". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  16. Keller, Wade (June 20, 2017). "KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 6/20: Fallout from Money in the Bank with Baron Corbin and the controversial Carmella win, Daniel Bryan returns". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  17. McNeill (July 4, 2017). "McNEILL'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 7/4: John Cena Returns, Rap Battle, Naomi-Lana III & Battle Royal". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  18. "Is Chad Gable going solo? WWE.com Exclusive, July 4, 2017". WWE.com. July 4, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  19. Keller, Wade (July 17, 2017). "KELLER'S WWE RAW REPORT 7/17: Reigns vs. Joe to earn Universal Title shot at Summerslam, Angle mystery revealed". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  20. Pettit, Sam (29 January 2018). "WrestleMania title match places booked at Royal Rumble". SkySports.com. Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  21. Keller, Wade (May 21, 2018). "5/21 WWE RAW RESULTS: Keller's report on Rousey-Jax contract signing, Sami with Bobby's sisters, Stephanie McMahon". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  22. Heydorn, Zack (May 28, 2018). "HEYDORN'S WWE RAW REPORT 5/28: Alt Perspective coverage of the live show including Seth Rollins vs. Jinder Mahal for the IC title, women's last chance gauntlet match, and more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  23. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2018". cagematch.net. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  24. Meltzer, Dave (January 25, 2016). "January 25, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2015 Observer Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 30. ISSN 1083-9593.
  25. "American Alpha def. NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival". WWE. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  26. "WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships". WWE. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
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