The story of Chad Gable studying the art of lucha libre in order to destroy it has taken two interesting turns on this week's episode of WWE Monday Night Raw in Glasgow, Scotland. Full results of WWE Raw can be found here.
In a vignette, the fake history of El Grande Americano was explored via AI-generated images. Saying he's from the "Gulf of America", he quickly rose to the top of lucha libre and was the face of it for decades. But he was eventually blackballed by his jealous enemies, forcing him to vanish without a trace. But now, he's returned.
Check out the vignette here:
Immediately after that, there was a backstage segment where the Latino World Order's Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio were watching the video package alongside Raw General Manager Adam Pearce, calling it a joke. Pearce rolled his eyes in saying that El Grande Americano is the newest acquisition to the Raw roster, and they talked about how it is obviously Chad Gable in a luchador mask.
Chad Gable then walked over to the three of them, coughing, saying that he's sick and unable to compete tonight. He even brought a doctor's note to give to Pearce to excuse him from facing Dragon Lee. However, he made the suggestion that Lee should face El Grande Americano instead, and Lee agreed.
Later, in their match, El Grande Americano actually pulled Dragon Lee's mask off him—the ultimate sign of disrespect in lucha libre, as what happened recently at AEW Revolution during the Zero Hour wherein Chris Jericho unmasked Gravity—and used that distraction for his benefit.
Lee was so concerned with covering his face that he became susceptible to an ankle lock, one of Gable's trademark maneuvers, and tapped out, giving El Grande Americano his first official submission victory in the books.
Obviously, the LWO will be looking for even more revenge now after this happened, and for all we know, this could lead to some sort of Mask vs. Mask match at WrestleMania 41, as that may be the only way to expose Gable's identity as he continues to deny he is El Grande Americano.
What do you think of this luchador gimmick? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and spark a discussion!