Chad Gable admitted he’s hoping his latest win sparks a significant singles run.
On the August 7th episode of Raw, Chad Gable saw off Ricochet, Matt Riddle, and Tommaso Ciampa to earn a shot at the Intercontinental Title. The star was roared on by the hometown Minnesota crowd, which included his family and young son.
The victory comes after Chad Gable revealed he’d been pushing for more chances as a singles star. Despite being incredibly popular with fans, and possessing all the tools a wrestler could dream of in the ring, Gable has found most success as part of tag teams, initially American Alpha and most recently as part of Alpha Academy.
Speaking in a WWE Exclusive following his latest win, Gable again said he’s been trying to move away from being seen as a “tag team guy.”
“You dream about this stuff, man. I’ve been trying to break this kind of typecast I was put in as a tag team guy for a long time. I’ve been asking for opportunities and saying I’m ready to do a singles thing, or ready to at least try to prove myself and show that I can. Give me the shot to just show you that I can. So I had my chance tonight, and I always said if I ever get it, trust me, I’m not gonna waste it.
But it’s one of those things where the stars align. It’s funny, in this life, that happens once in a while. I was in Minnesota, my family’s front row, and just got the Intercontinental [Championship] number one contender match. Everything I’ve been asking for, the stars aligned and it happened for me tonight,”
After the match, Gable celebrated with his young son at ringside, and the former NXT star revealed that his son loves wrestling, as well as “wrestling with no fireworks.”
“Oh man, he’s totally geeked about singlets now. That’s his thing. So now any time I order a singlet, he needs to get one of his own. So I’m in deep trouble here because I order a lot of singlets, it’s kind of my thing. But it’s so cool, man. He’s so into wrestling and it’s nothing I would ever force on my kids or anything, to make them do sports.
But he loves this stuff. He wants to do amateur sports like his dad. He calls it the wrestling with no fireworks, what we do. He wants do the stuff that’s not so loud. But to have him be kind of my reason for everything I do, someone that really values the work I do, and someone that looks up to me and the work ethic and just persevering and seeing through all these lows and really deep valleys that I’ve found myself in the last few years, so he’s my guy.”
When Will Chad Gable Face Gunther
Gable’s win puts him back on the radar of dominant champion Gunther. The formidable Austrian made the most recent defence of the Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam, seeing off the challenge of Drew McIntyre as he closes in on the record for the longest reign in the title’s history.
Gunther and Gable met on the July 31st episode of Raw, in a “five-minute challenge” which saw the match extended, although the champion ultimately won.
There’s no word on when Gable will get his second shot at Gunther.
H/t to Fightful