The WWE brand extension was met with some raised eyebrows upon its first announcement and those early reservations seemed to have been within good reason once the final drafts and rosters were confirmed.

By comparison, SmackDown Live appeared far inferior to Monday Night Raw but since August, the blue brand has shattered and defied expectation leaving their competition in their wake.

One of the main reasons for this success is American Alpha as Chad Gable and Jason Jordan have electrified what originally looked like being a weakened tag-team division.

The duo has been phenomenal early on and has no plans to ease up on their bright start as Gable talked openly about his early days on the main roster and the desire to be better than Raw: each and every week.

On SmackDown roster

Chad Gable says he was sceptical about the SmackDown roster at first (image:chad-gable.net)
Chad Gable says he was sceptical about the SmackDown roster at first (image:chad-gable.net)

The SmackDown brand led by commissioner Shane McMahon and general manager Daniel Bryan have set the tone in the New-Era of professional wrestling in WWE.

In recent weeks, now extending into months, the blue brand has excelled in their struggle for power with storyline development coupled with brilliant performances catapulting them into the lead.

Gable explains that even he himself was skeptical regarding the strength of SmackDown as he said, "It has been great, I am glad we got drafted to SmackDown; I think early on especially on draft night people were kind of skeptical towards the roster that SmackDown got, which I think was unfair to begin with."

However despite having to win over the doubters, the 30-year-old now feels that his brand are now 'fully capable' of competing and putting on 'just as good a show' as their rivals.

He said, "I think since then we have proven that we are fully capable of competing with RAW and putting on just as good a show, and I think we have done that, we have had incredible shows these past few weeks."

With American Alpha, AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, John Cena and The Miz all leading the way on the SmackDown roster Gable feels it is a mixture of elements that have paved the way for their success.

He said, "Our stories are great, the wrestling is great on our show and I think we have everything that a wrestling fan desires, we have it on SmackDown and I think we are killing it."

With the brand extension still in its early days, Gable will be hoping for more of the early success which has seen himself and partner Jordan notch up seven victories from nine televised matches.

On beating the competition

Chad Gable says that SmackDown Live is killing it (image: youtube.com)
Chad Gable says that SmackDown Live is killing it (image: youtube.com)

'Competition brings out the best in people' and that is exactly the message that WWE owner Vince McMahon wanted to convey ahead of the brand-extension.

Despite all the performers working under and for the same company, the rivalry between the two brands is 'real' says Gable as it brings out the competitive nature in the performers.

He said, "I think that is it, a kind of a big point of the whole thing, it is to create a bit of competitive nature which is great for me and Jason because we have that mindset, to begin with."

American Alpha are still in the hunt for tag-team gold as they look to defeat their opponents whenever they step foot inside the squared circle but they have one eye on their brand competition who perform one night earlier, which Gable feels gives them the advantage.

He said, "We love being competitive and this helps when you go in on Tuesday nights and you have seen what they did the night before on RAW or you have seen what they have done on a pay-per-view on Sunday and you say 'guys we have to top this'."

The competition seems to be getting real now which is the feeling of the former NXT tag-team champion who feels that 'magic' will follow as the product continues to become better and better.

He said, "The real competition is there now and I think you are going to see that reflect [in] the product and how much better it gets because when people are competitive, magic happens, it starts getting better and better and it doesn't stop."

Gable spoke to VAVEL via conference call ahead of WWE's upcoming European tour in the United Kingdom.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Joel Lampkin
Sports Journalist from Chester University, Professional wrestling writer. Contact [email protected]