Chad Gable steps into The Wasteland against one-half of The Ascension.

The lesson of the last two weeks has been that Chad Gable most certainly has the goods to anchor a newly-formed tag team. The lesson of this week, however, was that he still has a thing or two to learn. In Gable’s first defeat since linking up with Bobby Roode, the former SmackDown Tag Team Champion fell to Konnor of The Ascension, who was looking for a statement victory of his own after Gable put up three straight victories against his own tandem — two tag team wins and a singles triumph over Viktor.

The powerhouse got what he was searching for, doubly so since Gable had been on something of a roll before Konnor decided he’d had enough. The big man snuffed out Gable’s athletic, stick-and-move strategy by using his size to literally stop Gable in his tracks before using his strength to hoist Gable in the air and plant him with a gutwrench slam that rattled the ring and secured the win.