Gable Steveson appears to be committing to WWE for the foreseeable future.
A decorated amateur wrestler, it had been previously reported that Steveson would be splitting his commitments between college wrestling and professional wrestling as 2024 was the last year that he could compete for the University of Minnesota. However, according to multiple updates, the Olympic gold medalist will be focusing his efforts on the sports entertainment world.
University of Minnesota wrestling coach Brandon Eggum recently gave an update on social media that Steveson will not be competing for them in the following season:
“Unfortunately, [Steveson] will not be able to compete for us this season,” Eggum said. “He is a great competitor. He’s always wanted to compete for the University of Minnesota, but ultimately the WWE would prefer that he’s solely focused on his professional wrestling career at this time. So whenever he’s not at the Performance Center down in Florida, he’s up here in our realm working with our heavyweights, which is awesome.”
What’s Next For Gable Steveson’s WWE Career?
Despite being signed to the company for a number of years, Steveson has only had one televised match for the company. Facing Baron Corbin at NXT Great American Bash, the match went to a double count out and left many fans disappointed at the highly-anticipated debut. With Steveson having previous Olympic success, many naturally drew comparisons to Kurt Angle.
Steveson has worked multiple matches on the NXT house show loop and defeated Cedric Alexander in a dark match before the January 5th episode of SmackDown went on the air.
As reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Steveson is scheduled to be at subsequent SmackDown tapings, but only in non-televised matches:
“Gable Steveson is booked for SmackDown tapings, likely dark matches, for the next few weeks,”
In regards to his future in NXT, Shawn Michaels stated on a media call ahead of No Mercy that they have “every intention” of using Gable Steveson in the future.
Steveson was drafted to Raw as part of the 2021 draft but never appeared on the red brand.