How Vince McMahon Destroyed Typecasting In WWE

Bobby Roode Chad Gable
WWE.com

Chad Gable's recent reinvention on Raw is that of Bobby Roode's biggest fan. He hops, skips and jumps alongside 'The Glorious One' on Raw, all the while enhancing their matches with dynamic decadence beyond the ability level of his peers. Not like that matters. His own excellence is the subplot in this particular story - the focus is how rattled Roode is with Gables' earnest enthusiasm. It'll thankfully almost certainly end in an overdue heel turn for the former NXT Champion (yet another completely misconstrued character), but the bigger issue is the characterisation of Chad in particularly that will get them to that end point.

Gable - giddy to the point of irritation - is how Vince McMahon views his entire audience. Happiness is an emotion to be demonised, support one to be squashed. Roode, by all rights, should be absolutely buzzing to find a friend as talented as Gable willing to fight his corner so fanatically. He instead furrows a brow and curls a lip, stopping only short of screaming F-words as McMahon probably does in Michael Cole's ear when it's time to talk over boos for babyfaces and cheers for heels.

We are all Chad Gable. Gable helped Jason Jordan over a hump. Gable made Shelton Benjamin a somebody again. He was a guy that cared enough about Sports Entertainment - and enjoying his time within it - that he found a way to make it all make sense. That very same task is now being dished out to the ticket-buying public. Punters too, are having to put in work to support their favourite workers.

CONT'D...

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back almost 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett