Chad Gable may have experienced the biggest setback of his career when he suffered a shoulder injury while portraying the original El Grande Americano, however, thanks in part to Ludwig Kaiser and the creativity surrounding the gimmick, Gable was able to return better than ever. He and Kaiser wrapped up their feud as rivals during El Grande Americanos mask vs. mask match on AAA Night of the Elders May 2026 and babyface Gable at SummerSlam won the Intercontinental Championship.
Gable spoke more about the injury he suffered in his time Worlds Collide 2025 match against El Hijo del Vikingoon”Insight with Chris Van VleetHe said how the events unfolded that led to the match between the mask and the mask and everything that followed was “beyond thought.”
“It’s the kind of stuff you can’t write even if you wanted to,” Gable said. “It’s just a coincidence. For me, it ultimately tells me that even more, I can stop believing in coincidence. Like, some things were just meant to be. Things were meant to play out a certain way, and that’s beyond our control. I don’t believe in coincidence anymore.”
He said that he was at the peak of his career right before the injury. He was creatively full and doing a lot, but then he said it all fell apart.
“It was one of those stories you hear about where you’re like, right at the top, the floor just fell out,” Gable explained. “For a guy like me who values progress and achievement at such a high level, it doesn’t get much more tragic… It just stopped and I didn’t have a choice at that point. They told me: “This needs to be fixed.”
Trauma fuels the fire within
Gable explained that the injury occurred at a point in the Worlds Collide match when Vikingo performed a move on his back while his hand remained in position on the ring apron despite the rest of his body falling to the floor. He said he had never torn a muscle before, so he knew something was up, but the adrenaline carried him through the match, and then 2025 Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match later that night.
“I never gave it a chance to really settle in because it was like, ‘We’ve got things to do here, man,'” he said. “Then there were some nice shocks in the Money in the Bank game as well that had an impact… I woke up the next day and man, I don’t think I’ve ever felt the level of fragility I felt the next day.
Gable said the time he spent at home after the injury was worrying, but he believed everyone he talked to about what lay ahead for him. He said the FOMO was real watching Kaiser take the character he created and transform it into a success no one expected.
“What he did, fortunately for me, did not cause jealousy,” he said. “It’s built just like, this competitive fire, which I think if you go up against me, that’s one of my strongest assets, that’s my competitive fire. I’m not a hater. I don’t look down on someone else’s success, but I will challenge you and try to be better than you.”
If you use any quotes from this article, credit “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” and credit ah/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.