15 WWE Gimmick Changes That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
2. Chad Gable Overcomes “Shorty G”
At time of writing in June 2025, Chad Gable is riding high as both himself and his devilishly brilliant 'El Grande Americano' masked offshoot. Even those who aren't digging the phoney luchador bit would have to admit that it's one million times better than what Chad was doing back between 2019-2020. Pre-COVID shutdown, he was saddled with the notoriously rotten "Shorty G" moniker.
Gable debuted that new name and persona on the 18 October 2019 SmackDown. Previously, Baron Corbin had asked the ring announcer to call Chad “Shorty Gable” at Hell In A Cell on 6 October, so seeds had already been planted. The general idea was that Gable had overcome height issues to be a success in life. There was just one problem: Most of the wrestlers poking fun at his size were either shorter or the same height.
Work that one out.
Latter-day Vince truly was putrid to sit through and stomach at times. Obviously, fans respected Chad’s in-ring skills and thought he could do more in the promotion if given the chance, so they rejected this gimmick change straight away and took it as a slap in the face. Really? They were expected to buy that Gable's 5ft 6 inches height had held him back in daily life before bumping into Vince McMahon's frankly mental thought processes?
It was preposterous. Seeing acts like Mustafa Ali and The Revival giggle at Chad's height whilst eye to eye with him (or looking up at him!) did little to sell the notion that Gable was anything other than average height. How dare he be the same height as most fans watching. What a freak!