Chad Gable is opening up about one of the most difficult periods of his WWE career.
Speaking on What Do You Wanna Talk About?, Gable reflected on portraying the widely criticized “Shorty G” character in 2019, admitting he knew from the start that the gimmick could derail his momentum despite doing everything he could to make it work.
“I felt boxed in. Yeah, yeah. And I, I think I put on the face of this could work. We can make this work. And I tried. I don’t want to pretend like I didn’t. I think deep down I knew, man, this might be a killer. This had to be the nail in the coffin. I had a very encouraging text from one Luke Harper after the first promo I did when I essentially named myself Shorty G. That was super encouraging from a guy like that because that was a low point for sure, referring to myself as that. But he made me feel as good as I could have about it, and I will never forget that. I think it was immediate afterwards. Took a lot of the stress off of me.”
Gable also discussed how he first learned about the character, noting that while he can’t say for certain who came up with the idea, then-SmackDown Executive Director Eric Bischoff was the one who delivered the news.
“To my knowledge, I’d have to whittle it down to Eric Bischoff. Eric, maybe. I don’t. I can’t say that firmly, but he was the one that delivered me the news. So yeah, let’s all leave it with that. I liked working with Eric by the way.”
The “Shorty G” persona was introduced during Gable’s feud with Baron Corbin, who repeatedly mocked his height. The gimmick was short-lived, however, as Gable eventually returned to competing under his own name before forming Alpha Academy alongside Otis. More recently, he thrived under masked luchador persona El Grande Americano in AAA, before returning under the Chad Gable name in WWE.
5 years ago today, Shorty G quits WWE.
When Adam Pearce questioned him about this statement, he clarified that he is quitting being Shorty G and is reinventing himself once again as Chad Gable. pic.twitter.com/G3Udz0yMiP
— J O H N (@RomanEra0) October 23, 2025
