Tony Khan had discussed the potential destination for Olympic gold medallist Gable Steveson who has been linked heavily with WWE, saying that while they’ve been talking to Steveson, Khan’s conversations were elsewhere.
Steveson was shown on camera for WWE at NXT TakeOver: 36 in April and since then speculation has run rampant that he could be set to follow in Kurt Angle’s footsteps and sign with the company. In the summer, Steveson did what many expected of him as he won heavyweight gold in freestyle wrestling at the Tokyo Olympics.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW President Tony Khan commented on Steveson and says while WWE has been in contact with him, Khan was in touch with another free agent:
“Well they’ve been talking to him and I’ve been talking to CM Punk so God bless them but I do a lot of work. I signed Alexander Mitrovic, who’s a player for Fulham to a contract extension and you know, he’s a really important player for us who scored a goal today and had an assist that was a great assist and is an important player to Fulham. And, you know, been talking to Mitro and CM Punk and plenty of other people.”
“I’ve got a tonne of respect for Gable Stevenson said he’s a great athlete. A lot of smart people have mentioned that name to me. It could be a good fit if he was interested, I think. But it seems like he’s got a lot of other people talking to him too. So I don’t know. If he went to UFC I think that’d be great. Dana is my really good friend and I really support what they do.”
Tony Khan then mentioned another name from the MMA world that has become familiar to AEW fans in recent weeks, American Top Team boss Dan Lambert. Lambert has appeared on AEW television to lambast the current wrestling product and fans and seems to have found kindred spirits in the Men Of The Year – Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky:
“You know, Dan Lambert is a friend of mine too and that’s how I got hooked up with Dan. And that’s how Dan became a personality on my show that I started booking because He’s an unbelievable person. He’s a great person, he’s a great promo, just an unbelievable guy. And everybody in AEW absolutely loves him top to bottom every person backstage, and he’s so respectful of the wrestling business.”
Gable Steveson’s brother was a part of the latest intake of recruits at the WWE Performance Center along with the son of WWE Hall Of Famer Rikishi.