WWE Star Makes First Appearance Since WrestleMania 38 On SmackDown

This WWE star hasn't been spotted since WrestleMania 38, but he was on SmackDown.

Kurt Angle Gable Steveson
WWE.com

Gable Steveson made his first WWE TV appearance since WrestleMania 38 on last night's episode of SmackDown.

The Olympian appeared alongside fellow gold medal winner Kurt Angle in several segments, including a show-ending milk bath for Alpha Academy members Chad Gable and Otis. That went down very well with the live audience.

Steveson also teased a future match vs. Braun Strowman during a backstage skit, and was generally treated as a huge deal by the announcers throughout the show. The interesting thing here is that Gable was actually drafted to Raw during last year's 2021 WWE Draft, so this was his SmackDown debut.

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It's unclear right now whether this was a one-off to tie-in with Angle's birthday celebrations (and tease a bout with Braun), or if it's the start of a full-time run. It is, however, the latest chapter between Gable and Alpha Academy - previously, he'd blasted Chad Gable with a suplex during 'Mania 38's second night.

Steveson had been training hard for an eventual in-ring WWE debut, but he's also been battling Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. That underlying heart condition was naturally taken incredibly seriously by WWE.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.