Chad Gable has finally named the person he believes was behind one of the most infamous gimmicks of his WWE career. Years after Shorty G became the butt of countless jokes, Gable says Eric Bischoff was the one who delivered the news—and admits he suspected from day one the character could end up hurting him.
This came while Gable was chatting with Cody Rhodes on What Do You Wanna Talk About?. Rhodes admitted he never actually lived through the Shorty G era because he had already left WWE, so he went straight to the question fans have joked about for years: who was actually behind it?
“I did not encounter Shorty G. I did not encounter this as I came back to WWE. Whose fault is Shorty G?”
Instead of brushing it off as an old joke, Gable finally gave the closest thing fans have ever gotten to an answer. He said Eric Bischoff was the one who delivered the news that he was becoming Shorty G, although he made sure to point out he enjoyed working with Bischoff and wasn’t trying to bury him over the decision.
“To my knowledge, I’d have to whittle it down to Eric Bischoff. He was the one who delivered me the news, so I’ll leave it at that. I did like working with Eric Bischoff, by the way… but yeah, that was an interesting little run there, if that’s the word for it.”
That wasn’t the biggest surprise, though. As Rhodes suggested Bischoff may simply have been trying to find something that clicked creatively, Gable admitted his real battle wasn’t with the people making the decision—it was convincing himself the gimmick had a chance. He said he put on a brave face and tried to make it work because that’s what WWE talent do, but privately he already believed it could become “a nail in the coffin” for his career.
Cody Rhodes: “Maybe Eric was just trying to find the thing, like we’re in a maze as a mouse trying to find the cheese.
Chad Gable: “I felt boxed in and put on the face of, ‘This could work, and I could make it work.’ I tried, but I think deep down I knew this might be a killer, could be a nail in the coffin.”
Those comments hit differently after Gable’s appearance on Good Karma Wrestling earlier this month, where he turned Shorty G into a joke by apologizing to fans for the gimmick. Now he’s gone beyond the punchline, sharing what was happening behind the scenes and identifying the person he associates with one of the most talked-about creative decisions of his WWE career.
Do you think Shorty G was the biggest creative mistake of Chad Gable’s WWE career? Let us know in the comments below.
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