Chad Gable Is Finally Showing That He Is Kurt Angle's True Successor In WWE

Highlights

• Chad Gable consistently delivers amazing matches and has proven himself in tag teams, tournaments, and exhibitions. His ability to produce great matches with any opponent is impressive.
• Gable's charisma and comedic skills rival that of Kurt Angle. He can make fans laugh, entertain with ridiculous segments, and even help elevate other wrestlers through his character work.
• Despite the failed Gable Steveson experiment, Gable remains a fan favorite and is long overdue for his moment of glory. He has consistently proven himself and could be the one to finally defeat Gunther for the Intercontinental Title.

It may go without saying, but Chad Gable is truly one of the most impressive performers on the current WWE roster. He's able to go out, put on a great match, and give the fans a good time. However, no matter how good he consistently proves he is, he's never been given that push into the main event scene. Ironically, the closest he ever got was during his unfortunate time as Shorty G. He was able to salvage his career out of that horrible gimmick, and was given a second chance, which is so very rare in this industry.

RELATED: Chad Gable's 10 Greatest Matches, According To Cagematch.net

Chad Gable Consistently Puts On Great Matches

Like Kurt Angle, Gable was able to seamlessly transfer himself over to a professional wrestling career from an amateur wrestling background with seemingly no trouble at all. From his NXT days to now, Gable has been putting on classics over and over again.

Whether it be tag teams matches, King of the Ring tournaments, or just plain old exhibitions, he has put on amazing matches on a consistent basis. It doesn't matter who it's against either because it's easy to put on great matches with names like The Revival, Sheamus, and Gunther, but to get consecutive good matches out of Baron Corbin is a real accomplishment.

Chad Gable's Comedy And Character Work Matches That Of Kurt Angle

What really sets Gable apart from all the other Olympic athletes that seem to come and go is that he has the charisma that Angle had. He's not just a bland Olympian archetype. He's able to laugh at himself, do ridiculous stuff, and produce legitimately entertaining segments. His "Shoosh" and "A thank you" catchphrases have caught on, those segments with RK-Bro in early 2022 got some of the best reactions at that time, and the Shoosh off with Kurt Angle was just pure nonsense in the best way possible.

Kurt Angle had legitimate comedic skills, and it looks like Gable learned something from him, but the real achievement is how they're able to use those skills to help other wrestlers. Angle's character work helped out Stone Cold when his heel turn was flailing, made Rey Mysterio an established name, and gave a debuting John Cena a great showing. In the same fashion, Gable was able to pull Otis out of obscurity after his failed Money in the Bank run and Heavy Machinery ending to make him a legit monster. He's also been able to make Maxinne Dupri one of the most over acts on the roster. Sure, it was at the cost of the Maximum Male Models, but it's hard to imagine that group was ever going places. Gable has so much confidence and charisma that he's able to be self-deprecating, still be seen as a contender, and transfer that to the people around him. That's no easy feat.

The Gable Steveson Experiment Seems Like It's Already Failed

Perhaps the reason why those in the WWE don't see Chad Gable as the next Kurt Angle is that they see another wrestler as exactly that. Unfortunately, that tunnel vision is only hurting both competitors. Gable Steveson was randomly drafted to Raw in October 2021, and then didn't show up until WrestleMania 38 the next April when he gave a belly to belly suplex to Chad Gable, himself. After that, he went away again. Weeks and months go by while reports come out that claim his training hasn't been going well.

RELATED: 15 Wrestlers Who Competed In The Olympics

Regardless of that, he showed up again many months later for a special episode of SmackDown celebrating Kurt Angle's birthday where they recreated the famous milk truck incident on the Alpha Academy. Therefore, Steveson got the better of Chad Gable yet again. Even more months went by until the summer of 2023 when Steveson unexpectedly showed up in NXT. His first match for the company took place at NXT's Great American Bash 2023 against Baron Corbin. The match was not good, it ended in a no contest, and due to some poor decisions he's made, Steveson was mercilessly booed over Baron Corbin of all people. It's understandable that Steveson would want to finish his amateur wrestling career before starting professional wrestling, but the waiting killed any momentum he had, and now he's despised by the crowd while Chad Gable is a fan favorite at any arena.

Chad Gable is long overdue for his moment of glory, and that time could come soon as he may be the one to finally beat Gunther for the Intercontinental Title. He's proven for years how good he is in all aspects. Tag teams, singles actions, comedy, drama, so if the WWE is truly looking for the next Kurt Angle, they've had one right in front of them for years. However, if the higher ups don't see him as a main event player, he may be out of luck. On the other hand, through awful gimmicks, stop and start pushes, and pre-show purgatory, he's fought back to relevance each and every time, and that sounds like Kurt Angle more than anything.