5 Things We Want To See After WWE Royal Rumble 2022 (And 5 We Don’t)
7. Want: Chad Gable Embraces His Inner Angle
This year’s men’s Rumble was particularly businesslike, clocking in at under an hour and offering little in the way of silliness. With Johnny Knoxville’s appearance little more than a cameo and Kofi Kingston’s spectacular ambition finally surpassing his grasp, one of the few moments of levity came down to tag team champion Chad Gable.
He stormed to the ring as the gigantic Omos caused chaos and became chief of the anti-Omos brigade, organising his (relatively speaking) diminutive troops to toss the big man over the top en-masse. He then proceeded to crow before ultimately getting dumped by Rick Boogs.
Gable already has shades of Kurt Angle thanks to his amateur background and style, but he rarely gets the chance to display too much personality. Like Angle, he’s a natural at the all-American pomposity, preaching his surplus of virtue while behaving like a moron.
Will 2022 be the year of Chad Gable? Sadly, undoubtedly not. But among his other underutilised qualities is a great sense of humour that could help to add some variety and buoyancy to Raw. It’s hard to find another Angle, a truly generational talent - Gable could be the guy.