A new report from WrestlingNews.co provided information on the possible reasons why Chad Gable announced on this week’s Friday Night SmackDown that he was done with being called “Shorty G,” as he had been referred to for the past several months.
Citing unnamed sources, the publication’s Paul Davis wrote on Friday night that Gable appears to have been partly behind the decision to retire the Shorty G gimmick and revert to his original ring name. However, there were reportedly multiple people backstage, including fellow SmackDown star Daniel Bryan, who were trying to convince WWE officials to give him a better push.
While Davis noted that there is some “optimism” that Gable would get the exposure he deserves, he quoted one of his sources, who believes that WWE chairman Vince McMahon still doesn’t see much in him due to his relatively small stature.
“Vince sees talent in him and he meant well with the Shorty gimmick but Vince might not want to push him all the way as a top guy because of his size. The agents and the writers want more for Chad but Vince can change his mind tomorrow and I think we all know that. Chad knows that.”
As recapped by Cageside Seats , Gable took part in a match against Lars Sullivan on this week’s SmackDown , where he was quickly and cleanly defeated by his much larger opponent. In the post-match interview, the former American Alpha member claimed that he was quitting, though he would clear this up later in the show during a segment with backstage producer Adam Pearce.
Gable vented out his frustration to Pearce, saying that he was tired of being a “smiley little punching bag” and being defined by his short stature. He then stressed that going forward, he wants to be known by his original ring name.
Rumors of Gable getting a name and gimmick change have been swirling since summer. In August, WrestlingNews.co reported that Bryan was using his expanded role in the SmackDown creative team to give more exposure to several underutilized — and mostly undersized — superstars, including the former Olympic wrestler. A source also claimed that Gable was expected to get his character updated, given that McMahon had supposedly become more open to “out-of-the-box” ideas to help boost his shows’ ratings.
In addition to Gable, a few other SmackDown performers have been rumored to be getting their names changed . These include Sullivan, who reportedly might be renamed as “The Freak,” and Dominik Mysterio, who could end up dropping his surname and the spelling of his first name could be changed to “Dominick.”