Alpha Academy talk American Alpha vs. Heavy Machinery, the hardest hit they've taken in the ring, and testing their amateur skills.
Since forming Alpha Academy in late 2020, both Otis and Chad Gable have experienced a boost in popularity among fans in WWE. The team has often been praised for balancing the comedy side of Otis with the excellent wrestling that Chad Gable brings to the table.
Before becoming Alpha Academy, both Otis and Chad Gable were in their own separate tag teams. Otis was a member of Heavy Machinery alongside Tucker, and Chad Gable made up American Alpha with the now retired Jason Jordan.
In a new interview with Fightful, Alpha Academy spoke about who would win a match between American Alpha and Heavy Machinery, as the two teams never got to face off in tag team action.
OTIS: “American Alpha, for sure. Jason Jordan’s a machine and,
obviously, Chad’s a machine as well.”
CHAD GABLE: “Do I have him trained or what? Do I have him trained or
what?”
CHAD GABLE: “Let me correct you, Sean. You’re an expert historian. Is
he right on that?”
SEAN ROSS SAPP: “I just looked it up.”
CHAD GABLE: “Didn’t we have a contact at some point?”
SEAN ROSS SAPP: “You teamed with Bobby Roode once. I’m just
saying, Heavy Machinery beat you all in three minutes.”
CHAD GABLE: “That was just a test. Alpha Academy quiz and you
passed with flying colors.”
OTIS: “It’s hard to do it.”
Otis and Gable also went on to talk about testing each other in training due to both of their backgrounds in other combat sports.
OTIS: “We always do that. Every time at the Olympic Training Center, you get done two hours of pummeling and pummeling and booya-booya, getting my butt kicked from the older heavyweights, and here comes Gable like, ‘Let me get here with the big guys.’ He’s got this thing where he puts his hands on your front deltoids and he just pulls you. Your lower back is really, really tired, next thing you know, he’s behind you and he’s scored. So, yeah. A little mad about those days."
CHAD GABLE: “I was always known for mixing in with the heavyweights. I was the 84 kilo guy who always trained with the heavyweights no matter what. But for some reason they were always
my best friends, too. All my best friends in amateur wrestling were always heavyweights. I think it’s ‘cause I was the only guy who didn’t cut weight. So I’d beat them up in practice, but then I would go out to dinner and buy ‘em dinner afterwards for it. They knew all the good food spots.”SEAN ROSS SAPP: “I saw you mentioned you didn’t cut weight. How did you think that that benefited you? Because we saw a lot of people in MMA, especially, ruin their careers cutting weight.”
CHAD GABLE: “It allowed me to train 110% all the time. I would have never been able to train with these hosses if I was cutting weight all the time. You see it first hand, guys are like not able to focus on technique or training because all they’re worried about is sweating and dropping the weight. I get it. It’s what we did for a while. But fortunately I didn’t have to do it.”
Both Otis and Gable are known for hitting hard inside the ring. The former RAW Tag Team Champions also went on to discuss the hardest hit they've ever taken in the ring.
OTIS: “I would have to say Jey Uso with a steel chair.”
CHAD GABLE: “I don’t want to say who, but I remember it specifically. It was in the Orlando Armory at an NXT Live Event when I was seated on my butt. I got kicked in the back, right in the spine. It must have been just the perfect spot because it sent a buzz completely up, all the way to my head and all the way down to my legs. I’ve heard people talk about seeing red before when they were so mad, but I never experienced it. I saw red there. That’s as close as I’ve ever been to saying, ‘Okay, we’re gonna do a little amateur style here for a little bit.’”
Today's wrestling landscape is populated with performers who have past experience in other combat sports. As previously mentioned, both Chad Gable and Otis have that experience.
Fightful also asked both members of Alpha Academy about a time that somebody has tried to test their amateur skills inside the ring.
CHAD GABLE: “My favorite, I guess I’ll call it a tradition, would be Luke Harper. When he was with us was any time we’d be in a battle royal, whether it was the Andre or something in Saudi, he would find me and try to take me down with something new that he created, some kind of amateur takedown. It never really ended up too well for him, but it was one of these running gags that he did. It was one of my favorite things and probably my favorite memory of him of all time. I love it.”
OTIS: “I would say, I can’t mention a person, but he kicked me in the wrong side of the knee, on the knee cap, and I warned him not to do that again. The next week does the same thing again. We’re in NXT, I got a little pissy and did a bitch slap. I don’t know where it came from; I literally just lost my cool there. After that we were back to normal. So besides that, who would be crazy enough to mess with the Alpha Academy?”
Fans can see Fightful's full interview with Alpha Academy linked above.
