Chad Gable owes a long-running sitcom a thank-you for some of his work in WWE.
During his heel run as part of the Alpha Academy, Gable positioned himself as the leader of the group and portrayed an obnoxious academic who believed that he was superior to everyone around him, doing all he could to not let others get a word in. Wrestling fans who have watched the show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia have compared Gable’s heel character to that of Dennis Reynolds, who is played by Glenn Howerton. According to the former Tag Team Champion, this is more than a coincidence.
Speaking with TV Insider, Gable admitted that he does steal a lot of stuff from the show and from the Dennis Reynolds character, having a vast knowledge of the show:
For those who don’t know, I steal a lot of stuff from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Dennis Reynolds (Glenn Howerton) specifically aligned up perfectly with my master’s degree character, and I couldn’t help but steal some stuff. I’m so obsessed with the show. I feel I know his character as much as he does. So it does allow me to do some improvisation when I need to. I remember the spelling bee stuff I did. Otis spelled one of the words wrong by accident. That stuff there is so much hilarity to what we do.
One specific similarity that fans had was the season 10 episode The Gang Goes on Family Fight, where a lot of Dennis’ mannerisms were adapted by Gable for the spelling bee segment with Randy Orton and Matt Riddle.
The cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia are also wrestling fans in their own right, having previously produced a wrestling-themed episode and having WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper appear on multiple episodes.
Chad Gable Looks Back On Tougher Times
Although Gable has recently received rightful recognition on the Raw roster as a singles and tag team wrestler, this has not been the theme throughout his WWE tenure. Like many main roster call-ups, Gable struggled to find the same success as he did while in NXT. During the same interview, the WWE Superstar discussed how he would talk to Randy Orton in tougher times to get some much-needed advice.