4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (14 Sept - Results & Review)

2. Another Gable TV MOTY Candidate

Death, taxes, and Chad Gable delivering liquid professional wrestling when he’s given the opportunity to cut loose in the ring.

Gable and Dragon Lee went toe-to-toe Monday night for the Intercontinental Championship, countering each other like mad and trying to murk each other with everything in their arsenal. Gable nailed a Liger Bomb, but his moonsault hit knees, allowing Dragon Lee to drill him with a running elbow. Both men kicked out of their opponent’s best shots as well, as the match heated up down the stretch.

Fans bit on a title change when Gable grabbed an ankle lock to block a Styles Clash, only for Dragon to viciously kick free and roll through to finally land the Clash… for a white-hot two. Gable secured an ankle lock with a heel hook, holding onto his title by the slimmest of margins.

You could not ask for a better television match, especially considering that the episode was sold on the main event. This IC title match was just frosting on the cake, but man, was it tasty.

Now, if only WWE could actually book Gable like a normal person in between these outstanding matches, they’d really have something with him. Great matches might be enough in some promotions, but WWE relies on a lot of extracurriculars outside the ring, and Chad has all of those qualities as well.