WWE Reportedly Releases High-Profile Olympian
Controversial wrestler never lived up to mountains of hype and promise.
WWE has reportedly severed ties with Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson less than three years after signing the much-hyped wrestler.
Dave Meltzer reported that Steveson was among a series of NXT cuts announced Friday.
Steveson made his first WWE appearance at SummerSlam 2021, just weeks after winning a gold medal for the United States in freestyle wrestling at the 125 kg weight class. He was soon inked to a full-time deal and would be drafted to Monday Night Raw that fall, though he would never compete for the red brand. He did, however, appear at WrestleMania 38 and suplex Chad Gable.
Instead of appearing on Raw, Steveson would spend his WWE career almost exclusively in developmental learning the craft. Reports surfaced while there that Gable was not making the strides the company had wanted for such a decorated amateur wrestler. Steveson would wrestle his only televised match against Baron Corbin at the Great American Bash last summer. Fans mercilessly booed the match, which ended in a double-countout.
It's a far cry from where WWE clearly thought they'd land with Steveson, who was paired with fellow Olympic gold medalist and WWE Hall-of-Famer Kurt Angle. The company signposted that they believed Gable could be every bit the wrestling prodigy that Angle was a generation earlier, but it never came to pass.
Steveson came into WWE carrying serious baggage, having been arrested in 2019 for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman. However, no charges were brought forward due to a lack of evidence, which also allowed Gable to go on and compete in the Olympics.
After the flop of his NXT match, Steveson would work several dark matches during SmackDown tapings. His last match came in February against Cedric Alexander.