Shawn Michaels didn’t want a stand-out talent like Gable Steveson sitting on the proverbial bench.
The Heartbreak Kid and operator of NXT conducted a media call in light of the upcoming Great American Bash on July 30 and gave some details behind acquiring the Olympic Gold Medalist for the black and gold brand.
“He’s been here in the WWE for a while. He’s been down here training for a bit. I will be straight forward and honest. He had been here and I wanted to know, ‘Hey, I want to do something with this guy. I want to get him into the mix. Can I do that?’ There are sometimes, some people fall into different genres, different rules. I don’t ask a lot of questions, to be perfectly honest, but he is someone that I felt like, ‘if we’re going to do something with him, let’s do it.’”
Steveson is of a rare breed in WWE, being the only Olympic Gold Medalist to compete for the company other than Kurt Angle. HBK wants to see if Steveson has what it takes to live up to his Hall of Fame predecessor.
“Following in the footsteps of somebody like Kurt Angle, I want to get to there right away and see if [he] can become as good as Kurt was or perhaps surpass him. That was a trigger I wanted to know if I could pull, and I got the green light, so I’m doing it.”
Fans Will See Gable Steveson In The Ring At Great American Bash
Steveson does indeed have a dance partner this weekend at Great American Bash in Baron Corbin and Michaels is confident the two will compliment one another in the ring.
“Baron, absolutely, is not going to make it easy on him. He is, literally, a shark who smells blood. Gable has had a lot of big moments, so I don’t think the moment is going to be bigger than him. We will see how he adjusts because this isn’t what he’s done before. He doesn’t seem to be intimidated by the challenge.”
H/t to Fightful.