Chad Gable Reveals Penta’s Heartwarming Gesture at SummerSlam Was Unplanned

Chad Gable recently opened up about his Intercontinental Championship triumph in front of his friends and family at WWE SummerSlam: Minnesota and his opponent Penta’s class act after the match.

After years of heartbreaks, Chad Gable finally captured the elusive IC Title at SummerSlam last month, beating Penta in a highly entertaining back-and-forth match. After the bout, Penta put the belt around Chad’s waist and raised his hand, leaving the newly crowned champion emotional.

During a recent appearance on Complex Graps, Gable hailed Penta as his perfect dance partner, a great wrestler, and an “awesome” human being. He also revealed that Penta’s heartwarming gesture post-match wasn’t planned, and it left him completely emotional. Here’s what he said:

On his in-ring chemistry with Penta

“Fantastic! I have insane chemistry with him. So I wrestled him on his debut in WWE. We never really met, and I could tell from the moment we locked up, from the first time we touched and wrestled, we were… You know, you have these what you might just call like, perfect dance partners in wrestling. One of my favorite not only luchadors and wrestlers and guys to be in the ring, but just human beings. Like one of the most effortlessly cool human beings you’ll ever meet. He doesn’t even have to try. Just a genuinely awesome human being and one of the best wrestlers in the world, so it was an honor.”

On Penta putting the IC Title around his waist at WWE SummerSlam 2026

“I also would be remiss if I didn’t just say what a class act he was. Not too many people go that far anymore to like put the championship on you after you lose it, or after they lose it to you, you know? And none of that was talked about. None of that was discussed. It was just like, ‘No, this is yours now!’ And I was like, I had tears in my eyes from him doing that, cause that’s, you know, that’s like the ultimate sign of respect that he just didn’t have to do. So, uh, hats off to him for, for having some class, man.”

Listen to his comments below:

Gable’s most recent title defense was against Dragon Lee on the September 14th RAW in Mexico City. He is set to defend it against Saquon Shugars at tonight’s NXT live event.

Please credit Complex Graps and give an H/T to 411Mania for the transcription if you take quotes from this article.