Gable Steveson has revealed that the start of his WWE training was delayed after he underwent a heart procedure.
After signing with WWE in September 2021 in was expected that Gable Steveson would become a regular fixture on television relatively quickly. This expectation was only heightened when he was drafted to Monday Night Raw just a month later.
However, aside from confronting Chad Gable on night two of WrestleMania 38 in April, Steveson hasn’t been physically involved in any storylines.
It has now been revealed that underwent a procedure in September to treat Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome. The condition is a rare congenital heart defect, present at birth, in which an extra electrical pathway causes a rapid heartbeat.
Steveson underwent a heart ablation to correct the issue, which uses burning or freezing to cause scaring inside the heart, which breaks up the electrical signals to return the heart to a normal rhythem.
The Olympic gold medallist told ESPN that the problem was actually detected before the Tokyo Olympics. He only underwent the procedure until WWE’s medical staff advice him through the process, which took a number of months. This delayed his start at the Performance Center.
Steveson explained that he is excited to get his WWE career properly underway.
“We’re just excited to get this journey started, it’s been a long road to get to this point,” Steveson said. “… I feel that I’m capable of being in that top spot and I feel that I’m capable of handling that position in the right way.
“I’m a competitor, I’m an entertainer,” he added. “I can do things that a lot of other big guys can’t. I look forward to putting that on display and sooner or later, taking over that top spot and being the guy that people want to see.”
The star also revealed that his training is being led by Fit Finlay, adding that he is focusing on trying to take as much in as possible.
“Right now, I’m just hammering out wrestling with the other WWE superstars and being able to diversify myself in there with my amateur wrestling and mixing in the pro wrestling, too, is going to be a big thing for me,” Steveson said.
“I think right now, a big thing for me is taking in everything and being like a sponge and soaking everything in and just listening, keeping my ears open, keep my eyes open, and at the end of the day, if you do that, you can only go forward.”
Triple H commented that he was glad Gable Steveson was healthy and in training full-time, while praising WWE’s medial team.
“We’re glad to see that Gable is healthy and training full time at our Performance Center in Orlando. WWE takes pride in our best-in-class medical team which guided Gable through this process to ensure that he has a long, healthy career with WWE.”
Kurt Angle recently expressed an interest in managing Steveson, commenting that putting them together “wouldn’t be a bad idea.”