10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About WrestleMania 38

7. Gable Steveson's False Start

Vince McMahon Pat McAfee
WWE

WWE doesn't make stars anymore, other than the f*cking massive one that stood at the top of the ramp for both nights of WrestleMania.

Never was this clearer than in their tepid presentation of Gable Steveson on Night One. Stephanie McMahon's inadvertently indifferent introduction of the Olympian couldn't have been further away from WWE's prior attempts to introduce successful athletes into their own unique sporting circus.

Kurt Angle remains the gold (pun very much intended) standard, but the likes of Ronda Rousey, American Alpha and Mark Henry all had their histories mined and exploited to add extra oomph to their budding Sports Entertainment CVs. Not so with Steveson - he was trotted out like a star signing but it'd be 24 hours before he was allowed to look like one in a middling standoff against Chad Gable.

Big swing and a bigger miss for a guy with a bigger name than most, especially on a weekend where so many other WWE outsiders shone.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett