Chad Gable looks back on working with Gable Steveson.
At WrestleMania 38, Gable Steveson made a quick impact by getting in the ring and tossing Chad Gable around. Steveson was highly touted by WWE given his Olympic success, and the segment allowed him to be showcased at the biggest event of the year.
Given that they shared the "Gable" name, and Vince McMahon often changing names so there are no duplicates, many fans wondered if Chad Gable might lose his last name.
Speaking to Peter Rosenberg on Cheap Heat, Chad was asked about working with Steveson.
"Completely transparent perspective from me. At the time, I was doing the stuff with RKBro (Randy Orton & Matt Riddle), me and Otis were wrestling for the tag team titles. We had a match at WrestleMania, my first WrestleMania match, when he was being introduced. My mind was on the fact that I had finally earned my spot on the show, on WrestleMania. I was so proud and so happy about that, and happy for Otis. My mind was, 'I'm on Mania with Randy Orton. This is great.' The fact that they were bringing [Steveson] in, and I was involved with him in his first appearance. He came in the ring after I lost, threw me around. The reality was, I wasn't upset by any of that. None of that bothered me. I looked at from his perspective and I was imagining myself in his shoes thinking, 'I wouldn't want to be you right now. There is so much hype surrounding you, and you haven't even started training yet. This is your debut. It's on WrestleMania.' Everyone kind of wants that, but you better deliver. This is their first look at you.
"I was pretty confident in my character and my performance. I knew that I was going to give them what they needed and what they wanted out of me. There was no jealousy on my part because I'm like, 'You have a big job here to do, dude. You have big shoes to fill. I'll do my part to make you look as good as possible.' I was very comfortable at the time. There was no animosity or real jealousy. I went out of my way to work as well as I could with him, welcome him, and offer whatever advice I could at the place I was at at the time. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for him. Some guys, that's just how it is. You kind of have to get a taste of it to see if it's for you. It's certainly not for everybody. Amateur wrestlers are trained to do the complete opposite of what we do in WWE. Stoneface, no emotion, go do your job and get out. If you did that in WWE, you probably won't have a job very long. You have to show emotion and vulnerability. It's not to say he didn't have that, but sometimes guys just don't want to do that, or they're not willing to, or it's not natural. He's an athlete through and through. Potentially one of the best heavyweights this country has ever had. He's going to be fine with whatever he chooses to do athletically. This stuff is not for everybody. It's a whole different animal."
Steveson only had one televised match, and never made it to the main roster before he was released by the company in May. He has since signed to play in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills.
Elsewhere during the interview, Gable revealed a high compliment he got from Randy Orton. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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