Chad Gable Reveals He Went Into His Shoulder Surgery Expecting Good News — And Got The Opposite

Chad Gable has revealed he went into his 2025 shoulder surgery expecting to be told nothing was seriously wrong — and was caught completely off guard when doctors told him his left rotator cuff was torn and required immediate surgery.

In the first episode of a nine-part YouTube documentary series chronicling his injury, surgery and recovery, Gable described the moment he got the news.

“It turns out all this time I was so worried about my right side — and the left side was the one that had all these issues, to my surprise. I got this news that the rotator cuff was torn. This knocked me off my feet bad. I’m the type of guy that expects to go in and be told that this pain I’m dealing with is like, ‘You got some issues, but it’s nothing that requires surgery.’ That’s what it’s always been, through amateur wrestling all the way through my time with WWE, I’ve never been seriously hurt. And they went on to explain to me essentially that it had to be fixed. A torn tendon off the bone is not going to repair itself.”

Gable explained the chain of events. He had suffered a slight right biceps tendon tear during a house show against Gunther in 2024, continued wrestling and training through it, and eventually had imaging done on both arms. The MRI found his right arm was in rough shape — but the more serious discovery was the left shoulder.

He said the timing made it harder to accept, as he felt he was in the best form of his career at that point, coming off matches against El Hijo del Vikingo, Dragon Lee and Penta. WWE colleagues Sami Zayn, Bayley and Finn Balor all encouraged him to embrace the time off and spend it with his family.

Gable returned in January 2026 and immediately began the El Grande Americano feud with Ludwig Kaiser, which culminated in a mask versus mask match at AAA Noche de Los Grandes on May 30 that has been widely called a Match of the Year contender. He can no longer use the Americano gimmick after losing the match.