Add as a preferred source on Google Chad Gable says Luke Harper sent him an encouraging text shortly after Gable adopted the Shorty G name in WWE. Harper, who also wrestled as Brodie Lee, died in December 2020.
During an appearance on What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes, Gable said he tried to make the gimmick work. But Gable feared the change could end his WWE run.
“I think I put on the face of, ‘This could work. We can make this work.’ And I tried. I don’t want to pretend like I didn’t. I think deep down I knew, ‘Man, this might be a killer. This could be the nail in the coffin.’
I had a very encouraging text from one Luke Harper after the first promo I did when I essentially named myself Shorty G. That was super encouraging from a guy like that because that was a low point for sure, referring to myself as that. But he made me feel as good as I could have about it and I will never forget that. It was immediate afterwards. Took a lot of the stress off of me.”
Gable officially adopted the name on the October 18, 2019 episode of SmackDown. Gable defeated Curtis Axel and said he would go by Shorty G.
Gable used the name for just over a year. He dropped it on the October 23, 2020 episode of SmackDown and returned to Chad Gable.
The timing made Harper’s text even more meaningful. The former Wyatt Family member had asked for his WWE release in April 2019. He left the company on December 8, less than two months after Gable’s first Shorty G promo.
Gable and Harper had also shared the ring. In December 2016, American Alpha won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship in a Four Corners Elimination Match. Harper and Randy Orton were also in the match.
Nearly seven years later, Gable will challenge Penta for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam in Minneapolis. The match shows how far Gable has come since a period he feared could end his career.