Amateur Wrestling Career
Charles Edward Betts was born on March 8, 1986, in Saint Michael, Minnesota. He has been a gifted athlete since a young age; in 2004, Betts became a high school state champion in amateur wrestling. He went on to compete at the 2012 US Olympic Trials in the 84 kg weight class and progressed to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
American Alpha
In November 2013, Betts signed a contract with WWE. He was sent to train at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Soon after signing with WWE, Betts adopted the ring name Chad Gable. He made his televised debut on the January 8, 2015, episode of NXT, when he lost to Tyler Breeze.
In May 2015, Gable pursued Jason Jordan as a tag team partner. It took two months, but eventually, Jordan agreed. The two of them became known as American Alpha. Though they were initially heels, their impressive athleticism and charisma won the WWE universe over and forced NXT to turn them babyface.
At NXT TakeOver: Dallas in 2016, American Alpha defeated The Revival to become the NXT Tag Team Champions. They wrestled their final match in NXT on July 20, 2016, when they lost to the Authors of Pain.
Main Roster Debut
During the 2016 WWE draft, American Alpha was drafted to SmackDown as a tag team. They made their main roster debut on the August 2 episode of SmackDown and defeated the Vaudevillains. On December 27, American Alpha became SmackDown Tag Team Champions. Gable and Jordan remained together until the 2017 draft, when they were separated by brands and consequently disbanded their tag team.
On the August 22, 2017, episode of SmackDown Live, General Manager Daniel Bryan placed Gable in a tag team with the returning veteran, Shelton Benjamin. The pair feuded with several other tag teams, including Breezango, The New Day, and The Hype Bros. They were split up by the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-Up, wherein Gable was drafted to Raw.
Soon after, Gable formed a tag team with Bobby Roode. The two of them won the Raw Tag Team Championship on December 10, 2018, after defeating AOP.
Singles Career
After once again being separated from his tag team partner during a WWE draft, Gable began to compete in the singles division on SmackDown. In October 2018, Gable was given the ring name “Shorty G,” eliciting confused, heated discourse on social media. Gable was subsequently treated as a comedic mid-carder for the next several months until turning heel in 2020.
Alpha Academy
On the October 23, 2020, episode of SmackDown, Shorty G dropped his lighthearted ring name and reintroduced himself as Chad Gable. He then created the Alpha Academy and recruited Otis to be his first protege. In January 2022, Alpha Academy defeated RK-Bro to become Raw Tag Team Champions.
Over time, Alpha Academy’s sense of humor and in-ring antics made them incredibly likable to the crowd. WWE turned them babyface as a result. In March 2023, Alpha Academy entered a feud with the Maximum Male Models. Maxxine Dupri attempted to recruit Otis to join her team, but was instead convinced to join Alpha Academy and consequently turned babyface.