El Grande Americano bridged the gap between American and Mexican wrestling audiences, but the character originally began as a rib on luchadores, with Chad Gable under a mask. Another El Grande Americano, played by ex-Ludwig Kaiser, would appear after suffering an injury, leading to Mask vs. Mask high-profile match at Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide’s Night of the Greats.
Sit down for an interview “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” Gable looked back at the character’s origins and how it all came together. “I was doing some things with some luchadors, I think, like September/October (2024)…like Chad Gable, and I thought,
“I came up with this idea of, like, wearing a mask and kind of using it to insult their culture and make it more personal,” Gable later said. Despite the character’s intentions, the larger idea was to elevate lucha libre culture rather than insult it, while portraying a heel image that would elevate child luchadors in WWE. Eventually, WWE creative officials began working with him, which Gable believes made the idea even better.
El Grande Americano may have had funny elements, but Gable insists it wasn’t meant to be comedic and the character was created solely to generate affection. “I don’t think we ever presented it that way, and that was never the intention,” he explained. “Is it funny? Sure, but no, it was never a ‘ha-ha fun’ type of thing, I think it was kind of mean to hit these (luchadores).”
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