Chad Gable's Friendship With Otis Extends Past The WWE (2024)

Arguably the best storyline going on right now in WWE is the heel turn of Chad Gable and his demoralizing of his faction, Alpha Academy. In his quest to be Intercontinental Champion, Gable went from a fierce competitor, to bitter at Sami Zayn for being the one to finally beat Gunther at WrestleMania 40. It caused him to snap and brutally attack Zayn, and now Gable is doing the greatest character work of his career. As he puts down Otis, Maxxine Dupri, and Akira Tozawa, his original partner in the group has been getting closer and closer to physically attacking Gable. WWE is set to have a huge feud between Gable and Otis, but in real life they're not just co-workers but best friends with a bond that began before their days as professional wrestlers.

Chad Gable & Otis Met In 2009 When They Were Amateur Wrestlers

Chad Gable Competed In The 2012 Olympics

• Both Chad Gable and Otis are from Minnesota
• Chad Gable and Otis bonded over their love for pro wrestling
• Otis and Chad Gable are best friends in real life

Before they were ever professional wrestlers competing together in WWE, Chad Gable and Otis were amateur wrestlers under their real names of Charles Betts and Nikola Bogojević. Both were from Minnesota, which has been a hotbed for wrestling over the decades, and was once the home of Verne Gagne's AWA.

In a 2023 interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Emily Mae, Gable called Otis his best friend and spoke about how they met, saying:

"Beyond just being a tag team, we're best friends. We've known each other since 2009, [200]8, somewhere in there, so not just working together but growing together and finding each other in this business after going through amateur wrestling, Olympic-style wrestling, open training centers, and things like that, has been the most rewarding and fruitful part of it for me. Working together is easy because we get along, we've got the same mindset. We live right by each other. That part is easy. Just the whole journey has been the best part for me."

On Corey Grave's After the Bell, Chad Gable told the host what happened after he met Otis. Gable and Otis trained for the 2012 Olympics, living at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and realized they both loved professional wrestling. Gable said:

"We would spend every waking minute outside of training for the Olympics watching WWE or some form of wrestling. We were best friends from that moment. Once I got signed with WWE, he was still amateur wrestling but he was so done with it at that point. He wanted to get to WWE." (h/t Sportskeeda)

Chad Gable & Otis Have Stayed Best Friends

Otis Sold His House To Move Closer To Chad Gable

• Chad Gable made it to the 2012 Olympics
• Chad Gable was in American Alpha with Jason Jordan
• Otis was in Heavy Machinery with Tucker Knight

Chad Gable made it to the Olympics, competing in the 2012 London games, and while Otis did not, it wouldn't be the last time Gable and Otis would work together. They both became WWE superstars next, with different but similar paths. Gable signed with the company in 2013 and was part of American Alpha in NXT with Jason Jordan, as the team won both the NXT Tag Team Championship and later the SmackDown Tag Team Championship after they were called up. When a neck injury ended Jason Jordan's career, Gable still did okay on his own as the embarrassing but entertaining comedy act, Shorty G.

As for Otis, he joined WWE in 2016, and just like Gable, was in an NXT tag team, Heavy Machinery, with Tucker Knight. Heavy Machinery didn't win gold, but they were called up to the main roster together. It's been up-and-down for Otis on Raw and SmackDown though, as Knight was released by WWE, yet Otis' star only rose as he had a fun storyline with Mandy Rose and even won the Money in the Bank briefcase. Then, however, his briefcase and his girl were both gone. Otis got to show that he was more than a comedy act channeling Chris Farley when he and Gable joined forces in 2020 to become Alpha Academy. They've been one of the best parts of Raw, a team that not only excels in the ring but entertains with their segments. After they became Raw Tag Team Champions in 2022, beating RK-Bro, Gable tweeted about how close he and Otis were, so much so that Otis sold his house when he learned one was for sale next to Chad. Gable wrote:

"Since then, he’s come over nearly every single day for us to leave puddles of sweat in my garage in some of the grittiest training sessions you could ever imagine, all with the goal of continually making progress in this profession and in life. I could not be happier or more proud of this man. My protege. My prized pupil. My #1 guy. But most importantly, my friend."

Otis Is Ready To Snap On Chad Gable For How He Treats Alpha Academy

Raw Fans Gave Otis A Loud Ovation For Standing Up To Chad Gable

Chad Gable and Otis might be best friends behind the curtain, but on TV they are crafting a brilliant storyline, one that becomes more intriguing by the week. Otis is a man who doesn't believe in himself without Chad Gable, no matter how much his friend criticizes him. Sami Zayn, who knows all about that treatment in the Bloodline, has spent weeks trying to get Otis, along with Maxxine and Akira Tozawa, to believe in themselves. Every week we get closer to the moment, with Otis angrily getting in Gable's face to the crowd's delight, only to step aside.

The time is coming when Otis attacks Chad Gable, whether it be at Clash at the Castle (where Gable faces Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship) or soon after, and when it happens, the roof will blow off the arena. Chad Gable and Otis will then become bitter enemies, but once the cameras stop rolling, they'll remain the best of friends.