Shorty G Explains How WWE Is an Entertainment Company, on Running With His New Character, Getting Help From The Miz

– Sports Illustrated recently interviewed WWE Superstar Shorty G (formerly Chad Gable), who discussed his name change, learning from The Miz, and more. Below are some highlights.

Shorty G on learning WWE was an entertainment company: “A lot of people look at WWE as a wrestling company, but at the end of the day, it’s an entertainment company. I had to learn that, too. I’m one of the people who fell in love with wrestling because of the athleticism, but that’s not the only part of what we do here. WWE entertains.”

Shorty G on taking advantage of his opportunity: “The key is to take advantage when given the opportunity. Right before I went out last week to do the Shorty G promo, Bruce Prichard told me to make it my own and feel it. That promo, I felt it very deeply. The height thing is a message about overcoming whatever people believe are your shortcomings. Everybody can identify with that. That’s an area Chad Gable, up to this point, had been missing. Now you know what he stands for and what he means. Last Friday was the very first step in that process, and it’s only going to get bigger.”

Shorty G on how The Miz has helped him: “Miz is someone who has helped me a lot. He started giving me ideas and explained why a lot of my really serious ideas weren’t working. I started to understand his vision, and now I’m off and running with this new character. I’m going to have a great time with it and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into it.”

Shorty G on what he took from amateur wrestling: “Amateur wrestling taught me how to overcome setbacks. I made the Olympic team, but that didn’t happen in a day. It took me eight years and I lost a lot of matches on the way, but I learned that tenacious ability not to quit. Wrestling taught me to never allow the dark times to ever get too dark, and it helped me realize that great times don’t last forever so you need to continually work to make good things happen.”

Shorty G on pitching ideas to Vince McMahon: “Vince finally realized, after me coming into his office over and over, listening to vignettes I created at home and reading pitches I wrote, that I’m not going away. I hated splitting up with Jason Jordan. He was my best friend in the world and we were having great matches. That was the point where I could have rolled over and died or waited for them to come up with something for me, but I didn’t do that—I came up with a new idea and pitched it every week. They didn’t necessarily run with a lot of those ideas, but it showed them they’ve got a guy who is hungry and ready to make an impact.”

Shorty G on Daniel Bryan being his dream opponent: “There are so many guys on our wrestler I’d like to wrestle, but I’ve always looked to Daniel Bryan as my dream opponent. We have a similarity in size and style, and I’ve always admired him and looked up to his style of wrestling. I would love to tear it up with him.”

Shorty G on delivering his and WWE’s vision: “I’m working my hardest to deliver on their vision and my vision, and right now, we’re coming to the same point. It’s a pretty special time for me in my career right now, and I’m going to continue to work to be someone they can invest in.”