7 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (20 Nov - Results & Review)

2. Alpha Jobbers

So, what was the point of this entire Alpha Academy feud with Shinsuke Nakamura?

It certainly wasn’t to advance Chad Gable’s character arc – unless he’s going to undergo an existential crisis and brush off the silly “Thank you!” and “Shooosh!” as part of an effort to get back on the winning track.

Rather, it seems like Nakamura just plowed through the stable in less than a month to set himself up for a rivalry with a yet-unnamed wrestler. Realistically, there is only a limited number of people it could be: Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn or maybe Jey Uso, or someone who’s completely off the radar.

It makes sense on the surface to build Shinsuke back up after losing his feud against Seth Rollins, but jobbing out the entire Academy was… certainly a choice. Few wrestlers have developed a better connection with the audience through sheer willpower than Gable, but since losing to Gunther more than two months ago, he’s won just one tag match, failing to win seven other bouts (including Monday’s match).

That’s a pretty dismal record for a guy who was built up to nearly unseat the unbeatable Intercontinental Champion. And that’s a pretty big booking failure – unless it leads to a character shift for Gable.