Chad Gable has defended the WWE Intercontinental Championship four times since winning it at SummerSlam, and tonight he walks into the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with Ethan Page waiting across the ring.
Adam Pearce confirmed the match in his Sunday rundown, with a special 6 p.m. ET start time on Netflix, six days out from Crown Jewel in Riyadh. Page talked his way into the opportunity, then backed it up by pinning Dragon Lee in tag action last week after planting Gable with an Ego-Plex.
Thanks for the submission!
So how does this one end? We are counting down from the finish most likely to happen to the wildest swing on the board.
#5. Chad Gable makes Ethan Page tap to the ankle lock
This is the obvious call, and the story WWE has rehearsed for three months. Chad Gable won the first singles championship of his career by countering Penta’s Mexican Destroyer into the ankle lock at SummerSlam on August 2 in Minneapolis, and he has leaned on the same hold since, including the Rey Fenix defense on October 12.
Ethan Page’s problem is his ego. He will not wrestle around Gable and will try to out-wrestle him, and that is the trap. A second Ego-Plex attempt gets rolled through, the leg gets grapevined, and the tap comes out of nowhere. Gable has already beaten Page several times on WWE’s summer tour, and he walked into Brooklyn off a clean win over CM Punk at the October 29 live event in Youngstown.
The Intercontinental Champion will be full of confidence heading into his fifth title defense on TV. Page will certainly have to bring his A Game.
#4. Big Cass tips the scales, and Ethan Page leaves with the title
WWE has never been shy about a title change on the go-home show, and the pieces are sitting right there. Big Cass has been glued to Ethan Page since returning to Raw on August 3 after eight years away from the company.
Cass and Page have formed quite the alliance on TV, with the former assisting All Ego on a few occasions on RAW. Cass could do the same on tonight’s RAW and help Page capture his first title on the main roster.
Page has been chasing a main roster title since the night after WrestleMania 42 without landing one, so a short, tainted reign and an angry rematch at Crown Jewel would be a very WWE way to book it.
#3. Ethan Page gets himself disqualified, and Chad Gable keeps the gold
Frustration is a loaded weapon in this story considering that Ethan Page has spent weeks insisting that Chad Gable has been ducking him.
If the ankle lock sinks in and the tap does not come quickly tonight, expect a chair or a refusal to break in the corner while the official counts. That costs Page the match and saves the title. WWE could protect Page’s momentum by having him stand tall over the fallen champion, without dethroning Gable. This could lead to another match between the two with a stipulation being added to it.
#2. Ethan Page steals it with a roll-up
The cheapest finish on the board, and the one that protects both men. Chad Gable is arguably in the best form of his life in terms of his in-ring work. The reigning Intercontinental Champion has been putting on bangers almost weekly on RAW. Hence, WWE would try and make sure to shield his momentum.
The finish to tonight’s match could see Gable finally locking in the ankle lock and Page refusing to fight the hold. Instead, he uses the champion’s own momentum to roll him into a small package, maybe with a handful of tights for good measure, and the referee counts three. Before anyone in the building realizes what happened, Page is crowned the new Intercontinental Champion.
Gable gets a loss that does not damage him, and the rematch sells itself. It also fits the challenger’s mouth.
#1. Rusev shows up, and the whole thing breaks down
Recent reports have suggested that WWE might consider forming a faction featuring Rusev, Ethan Page, and Big Cass. Tonight on RAW, those plans might come to fruition.
If Rusev does appear in Brooklyn, the finish writes itself: the referee throws the match out, Gable keeps the championship, and Pearce is left with three angry men on one side and a champion who suddenly needs friends. A no contest is the least likely ending on this list, but it is the one that blows the Intercontinental Championship picture wide open six days before Crown Jewel. Only time will tell.
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Edited by Soumik Datta
