SmackDown star Chad Gable recently spoke with Men’s Journal about American Alpha’s successful debut on last week’s SmackDown Live. Topics discussed include why he thinks American Alpha is so popular, his relationship with Jason Jordan on and off screen and the state of WWE’s tag team scene.

Gable revealed that he and Jordan were actually quite nervous about their first match on the main roster and didn’t know if anybody would know who they were. They were very pleasantly surprised when they heard the crowd reaction. He added that it really helped when Daniel Bryan hyped them up after they were drafted. The warm reception from the WWE Universe also made him feel like fans were familiar with their work in NXT.

As for his relationship with Jason Jordan on and off screen, Gable says it’s interesting how lucky they got by being paired together.

“He was there (in NXT) a few years before me, grinding away. We didn’t really develop a relationship for a while. He was in more advanced classes than me and then they came up with this idea to put us together. From moment one, it just clicked. We just got along and we share the same values and ideas. I think some of it comes from us both sharing backgrounds as amateur wrestlers, being competitive. We just get it – we’re on the same page, no matter what it is. We try to describe it to people and it’s hard – we finish each other’s thoughts, when we’re on the road together, we’re on the same page – wanting to go work out, go eat, or go to the show. No matter what, we click. As a tag team, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

When asked about WWE’s tag team scene, he said there are just endless teams they want to work with, including The Club and The Usos. The tag team divisions on RAW and SmackDown are both thriving and they want American Alpha to set the standard, even if that ruffles the feathers of the other teams. “We want to raise the level of competition. If everyone starts to be competitive with each other and wants to one-up each other every single night, sparks are going to fly and it’s going to be magic before you know it.”