Alpha Academy Talks WrestleMania 38, Bonding Since Amateur Wrestling

Alpha Academy pair of Chad Gable and Otis appeared at the latest edition of “WWE The Bump” where they talked about WrestleMania 38 title shot, their character changes, and their bonding since amateur wrestling days in Olympics Camp.

Alpha Academy recently lost the RAW Tag Team Championship back to RK-Bro(Randy Orton and Riddle) last week. RK-Bro accepted to defend the titles against the Street Profits at WrestleMania 38 earlier this week on RAW. But, Alpha Academy attacked both teams later on that episode.

Appearing on The Bump, Chad Gable clearly said, “there will be no tag team championship match at WrestleMania 38 without Alpha Academy in it.” He continued by adding how they lost the titles in a multi-men match.

“We never lost them in a fair manner. They injected another team in Seth Rollins and KO in the match. They are doing the thing where they just complain all day and whine that they don’t have a spot, until all of a sudden.. oh, give them a chance at tag team championship.”

Gable continued to talk about how they have been the hottest tag team since the turn of the year.

“Watch what we have done since Christmas. Pay attention to the trajectory, we were on since Christmas. The work we have put in. And these other guys waltz in and everyone is now- Oh, we deserve a title opportunity. No, the ones that carries those titles since then and we never lost them fairly. It took three guys to put me down.”

When talking about the possibility of RAW Tag Team title match being a multi team match, Gable said while he is not against it, other teams should stop saying they deserve the title shot more than Alpha Academy as they have defeated both Street Profits and RK-Bro multiple times recently.

“We have defeated Street Profits, twice. What sense does it make for them to say they deserve the title shot. They should be at the back of the line. I am not against multi-men match. But, let’s stop all the talk about how its their turn, they get to the front because they beat RK-Bro. We beat RK-Bro too, multiple times.”

The discussion then moved towards the character changes for both Otis and Chad Gable. Otis was asked whether the old, sweet version of Otis still exists underneath. Otis replied he does not think so.

“If I look deep inside my soul, I don’t think so. I am a whole new machine. I am a man that keeps on going, and never stops coming. That old Otis from the Heavy Machinery is the past. This right here, the Alpha Academy, we are going to be the #1 tag team in the world.”

Gable then talked about how becoming Otis’ mentor has helped him revive himself.

“Otis has also helped me find myself as a coach, as a mentor. I knew I always had a little bit of that in me. I am an older brother type. I kind of grew up with that. But, at the same time, I saw something, someone who was lost. He was at his deepest low. He lost his girl. He lost his briefcase. He lost everything. And here, I am thinking this is the chance I have been looking for. I don’t wanna be Shorty G. I don’t like saying that name. He helped me realize that – I am a mentor. I am an Olympian. I wrestled in Olympics. I got a masters degree. I have things to offer. And he appeared at the right time. So, he pulled me out of the rut as much as I pulled him out of the rut. It is almost as if stars alligned for perfectly for us to pull each other up and help each other.”

Gable was asked about his new catchphrases “Thank You” and “Shoooosh” helping him connect to their audience more. Gable replied that Shorty G and the older version of Gable were not able to do so.

“Connecting with the audience is something that I have needed to do for a long time. But, it was not happening with Shorty G. It was not happening with the original Chad Gable. But with this whole master’s degree, coaching Otis and having him by my side has allowed the real me to come out. This is somebody who, if you ask my friends, my family and the poeple that have known me all along, you are getting the real deal now. And that’s what is connecting. The people know that, and I like that. I like the fact that with the “Thank Yeww” and the “Shoooosh,” in a sense that they don’t like me but they do enjoy playing along.”

Both Otis and Chad Gable come from an amateur wrestling background and were training partners. They were then asked about how their paths to WWE have been so different, but how special is it for them to achieve success together. Otis replied that years ago, they would have never thought that this would happen.

“From Best Friends standpoint, it’s like crazy. Back in 2010, if you would have said that we would be involved with WWE, being the RAW Tag Team Champions, being a part of unit. Because we have already been training partner for weightlighting weights, we were from different weight classes, but he likes to mix it up with the big boys every now and then at the Olympic training center. And it is special to me that years ago, we would never have thought that this would have happened. There is a small thought and a small little fantasy that could we do that. It is very special in my heart. This is my man.”

Gable then talked about how other tag teams exaggerate about their bond and traveling together on the road in WWE, Alpha Academy pair were living and training together 10 years ago, much before their WWE days.

“As much you hear a lot of tag teams talk about how close they are and their bond.. they are like we travel together, we are up and down together. I am like- ya, everybody does. Me and Otis, we lived together over 10 years ago. We trained together in amatuer wrestling, literally wrestling each other in the wrestling room everyday. And this was long before we were in WWE. And we had a room that we call the man cave in Olympic Training Center.. dark room, freezing cold, but massive TV, and we would watch wrestling like every single night. And we would talk about the future and what we are gonna do. And it happened.”

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