Highlights
- Gable Steveson has been released by WWE after wrestling just one televised match in almost three years.
- Steveson was signed by WWE in 2021 shortly after winning a gold medal in amateur wrestling at the Olympics.
- Steveson clearly didn’t progress as WWE hoped he would have and will now have to seek out other avenues, likely outside of pro wrestling.
Almost three years on from the announcement that he had signed with WWE, and after having wrestled just one televised match for the company in that time, Gable Steveson’s run with the company has come to an end. The Olympic gold medalist has been released by WWE, added to a growing list of recent cuts, and will now have to explore other avenues when it comes to career progression, likely ones that don’t have any connections to pro wrestling.
Gable Steveson Has Been Released
F4W Online reported in the early hours of Saturday morning that Steveson had been released by WWE, bringing the curtain down on a prospect the promotion clearly had so much hope for. WWE signed Steveson shortly after he won a gold medal in amateur wrestling for the US at the 2020 Olympics, the games that were delayed until the summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UFC was also courting Steveson at the time, but WWE made the bigger offer and the Olympian opted for pro wrestling over MMA.
Gable Steveson: How One Of WWE’s Biggest Signings In Recent Memory Led To Absolutely Nothing
It was huge news when WWE signed Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, but he has done next to nothing for the company.
Steveson was drafted to Raw shortly after being signed, not only indicating he would be skipping NXT despite signing one of WWE’s new NIL contracts (the biggest of its kind at the time) but also that Steveson would hopefully be ready to go relatively quickly. WWE likely looked back at Kurt Angle, the only other Superstar in WWE history to have previously won an Olympic gold medal in amateur wrestling, expecting Steveson to adapt to pro wrestling as quickly as he did. That didn’t happen.
What’s Next For Gable Steveson?
Steveson was permitted by WWE to continue his amateur career while adapting to his professional one which, in hindsight, may have been a mistake. Despite continuing to dominate in the amateur world, Steveson wasn’t improving in WWE. As noted above, Steveson’s WWE career ends with him having only wrestled a single televised match – a clash with Baron Corbin at 2023’s Great American Bash which not only ended in a double count out, but also failed to generate the crowd reaction Steveson and WWE would have hoped for.
Steveson continued to compete at NXT house shows after that and then in dark matches on SmackDown up until February of this year, winning every single match. Evidently he wasn’t progressing as WWE had hoped and he has now been released. Steveson’s brother Damon Kemp remains signed to WWE as an NXT Superstar. The timing of Steveson’s release is unfortunate as had it happened a few weeks earlier, he could have attempted to be a part of the US Olympic team for this year’s summer games.
