Chad Gable has opened up about plans for El Grande Americano prior to his shoulder injury.
In early 2025, Chad Gable donned a mask to become the original El Grande Americano. He quickly began building momentum as he took on the lucha libre stars of WWE, but his run was derailed by a shoulder injury in June that left him out of action for the rest of the year.
In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Gable said that the original plans for the character were changed earlier in the year, as it was meant to culminate with a match against Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania. When Mysterio was injured and unable to compete, Gable continued to attack lucha stars. While he believes it could have been great, his own injury put an end to the storyline.
“So from there, I continued kind of this assault right on the whole lucha libre culture and all this stuff, and I did it as both characters. Chad Gable was also in on this, you know, with Vikingo, you can even see all the insults and things I was hurling at him during the match.
“So it was just a matter of continuing to gain momentum as this character improved, this whole farce that I was the best luchador in the world, right? How insulting to all these guys. We have the best roster of luchadors, a dream couldn’t come up with these guys, and I’m here claiming to be the best. I just love it, man. I mean, we could have gone down any avenue we wanted; it would have been great.”
Chad Gable Credits Ludwig Kaiser For Making El Grande Americano Thrive
While Gable was out of action, Ludwig Kaiser took over the El Grande Americano name and gave it a whole new dynamic. Gable says watching things play out spurred on his recovery.
“I watched it play out, and on a weekly basis, grew more and more competitively driven to come back and take my character back. At the same time, really kind of grateful for the new Grande carrying it on the way he did, because who knows what would have happened to that character had it just been forgotten until I came back. It may have gotten lost in the shuffle. We may have never got back to any point of importance.
“So, all credit in the world to him for not just keeping it alive, because he didn’t just keep it alive; he made it thrive.”
The storyline finally culminated in Gable and Kaiser facing off in a Mask vs. Mask Match to determine who would continue on as El Grande Americano. Kaiser won the bout, and it has gone down as a Match of the Year contender amongst fans and critics alike.
