I haven’t thought about it in a few days, and perhaps it’s because of my job, but for weeks after the match on May 30 I thought about AAA’s Grande Americano mask vs. mask match daily.
That’s the kind of match it was. I don’t think I’ve talked to anyone who’s seen it and doesn’t agree it was special.
It was also the kind of match that can change careers. That should be true of the man who won the mask of El Grande Americano in Monterrey at Noche de los Grandes, once his legal problems in Florida are resolved.
It seems to be true for Chad Gable, who lost the mask, introduced a humbler version of himself to Mexican fans, and returned to the main roster looking to set right the mistakes of his usually heel-ish past.
Only back on Raw a few weeks, he’s already mended fences with the tecnico luchadors there. His attempts to make things up to his old charges in Alpha Academy isn’t going so well, but it’s keeping Gable in a prominent storyline on television. Based on what he told The Hot Tag, Chad knows that the key to keeping his momentum going toward his ultimate goal, a WWE World title.
Because of the mask vs. mask match, Gable thinks “the right people” at WWE and TKO know he’s ready for a main event spot now too.
“So, I think it’s fairly clear to everybody that I’ve been this successful tag team wrestler and almost categorized as that. I have Tag Team championships on every level. I’ve made it very clear in the past that I’m capable of more than that and I think what the mask vs. mask match did was show the world those weren’t just words. That I’m now backing it up and my intention going forward is to continue to do that and prove that I’m not just gonna want to hold singles championships going forward. That’s a goal, but, to be the guy, to hold the World championship, to hold the WWE championship. I’m capable of that. I know it, and I think people now know it and the right people now know it.
“It’s also on me to continue this momentum to carry it forward. I think we got a great thing going on with me kind of making amends with these characters and demons from my past and my own demons that I’ve gotta rectify and I think people are engaged in this story again. It’s emotional and the stuff with Otis, like whether or not I’m gonna be able to get an apology across to him. It’s resonating, and it’s on me to continue it and keep it going because all too common is you have this one great moment and this great mask vs. mask match that everybody was critically acclaimed, commercially acclaimed but, I’ve never been about the achievement and the end goal.
“For me, it’s always, like, process-driven, which is great because right now, we are very specifically in a process of me being able to either bridge that gap and become the next-level performer that I’ve always said I wanna be, or I can rest on my laurels and say ‘Hey man, I had this awesome match. Let’s chill out for a little bit but, no thank you.’”
Even as someone who’s still kinda obsessed with the Grande American match, I still have a hard time seeing a WWE championship around Gable’s 40-year-old waist. But hey, I said the same thing about Sami Zayn a week ago.
Let us know what you think of Chad Gable’s post-Grande Americano prospects below.
