Chad Gable Reveals What Made WWE’s El Grande Americano Story So Successful

Chad Gable is opening up about one of his biggest feuds in wrestling and what made it so successful.

In January 2025, Gable lost his singles match to the debuting Penta on WWE Raw. The loss left him frustrated, setting him on a ‘quest’ to learn about the ways of the lucha libre.

A couple of months later, he began portraying a double character on television, one of which was that of El Grande Americano, a masked luchador.

The gimmick saw him win the WWE Speed Championship and even challenge for the AAA Mega Championship in AAA Lucha Libre.

However, an injury suffered in June saw him get written off. This led to Ludwig Kaiser taking on the mantle of El Grande Americano.

Kaiser became immensely successful, especially in Mexico, as AAA’s top babyface.

At the 2026 Royal Rumble, Kaiser, competing as El Grande Americano, came face-to-face with Chad Gable, who was now repackaged as the “Original El Grande Americano.”

What followed between them was weeks of build-up, which involved unsanctioned brawls on more than one occasion. This led to a Mask vs. Mask match between them at Noche de Los Grandes, where the loser would be forced to reveal their identity.

After a 30+-minute match, Chad Gable was forced to unmask, which he did, and turned babyface in the process.

He is currently assigned to the Raw brand and is involved in a feud with Rusev and Ethan Page.

Chad Gable Reveals A Lot Went Into Making The El Grande Americano Storyline Successful

Chad Gable recently appeared for an interview on 103.5 KISS FM, where he revealed what made the El Grande Americano storyline popular.

Gable claimed that there was no singular path in the feud, but a lot of alterations took place whenever needed. The 40-year-old especially credited his legitimate injury, without which the story would not have taken shape.

There’s so many facets to what got us to that final point, that I think someday we’re going to have to do like a documentary or something. Because there’s so many little routes that this had to take, and deviations from what had happened.

And you can go back all the way to just me getting hurt, you know? None of this would have ever taken place in the first place had I not gotten hurt and had to leave.

And El Grande took, essentially, my character and ran with it to a degree that I don’t think anybody expected him to. To his credit, just immersed himself in this culture and endeared himself to these people, and just to a level we haven’t seen in so long.

Chad Gable then said that competitiveness and hatred between his character and El Grande Americano elevated the storytelling.

So those things obviously played a part, and then I think just this idea that we developed this real competitive, almost hate for each other throughout the story as it unfolded. We found it within ourselves to really hold something against each other. Me for him basically stealing what was mine, and him for hating me for basically trying to come back and claim it when he has solidified himself as this character.

And when you can make it that important and that real to you, you just — it becomes that same way to everyone else to our audience. They feel it, and it was just lightning in a bottle. It just was something that I think we haven’t experienced in wrestling for a long time.

H/T: 411mania.com