Bobby Steveson opens up about his WWE departure.
WWE signed Bobby Steveson in 2021. The former collegiate wrestler debuted in December 2021. He later joined Diamond Mine, and he also had a run in No Quarter Catch Crew. On July 8th, he announced that he was no longer under WWE contract.
In an interview with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Bobby Steveson was asked to comment on how he was feeling now that he was a free agent.
"Alright, I guess. A lot of unknown, but a lot of good things lined up. It was a long 30 days, like a shock also, I guess you could say that. So now it's just more so just having to get things going without sitting around a lot is what you can say," Steveson said.
When asked how he was informed that his contract was not being renewed, Steveson stated that it was a phone call. He noted that something seemed weird when No Quarter Catch Crew got to go to TNA, and he was left out of that, and he was not told what was going on. Steveson stated that he asked an influential person whether he was still part of the group, and he was trying to figure the situation out. He said that he was told that everything was great. Steveson also noted that he wanted to re-sign and stay.
"It was a phone call. So, I don't know, it was leading up to it. I think wrestling kind of has his way of telling you that things aren't going the best without people being direct to you. So it kind of got a little weird with the guys getting to go to TNA, and I was getting left behind that, or without even being told what was going on. But one of my boys told me, so he kept me in the loop with that. The timing of it wasn't really adding up for me. It was adding up, they was like, all right, they're doing this. So there must be something going on here. Then I was trying to have a conversation. I won't say any names, just a heavily influential person the part of the show. So I asked the person a few times, ‘Am I still part of the group? What are we doing? Are we still moving forward?’ ‘Cause I knew what my timeline was or when my timeline was up with the company, and I was just trying to figure it out because I'm from Minnesota and everyone travels to Orlando, so everyone drives pretty far. So I was trying to figure it out moving forward, like what are we doing? Just shoot with me straight, I wouldn't take it personal at all. But I was just told everything was great, doing great things. We were pitched multiple stories that were gonna happen down the road and stuff like that. But I didn't have anyone to talk to about when it came to the contract. Cause I guess there was just no one in that category to reach out, and then I asked the person, I was like, ‘I’d like to stay.’ I was open, I wanted to stay, it wasn't my choice, like, ‘No, I'm going to UFC, I'm gonna go do this.’ No, actually I wanted to re-sign and be there. I enjoyed it, loved it. It was fun, too," Steveson said.
Steveson continued by noting that he did not have any professional wrestling experience before he joined NXT. He stated that he had been booked for television the week that he was informed about his contract not being renewed.
"I never wrestled or did any pro wrestling before NXT. It was kind of just pretty much just [when] I graduated in 2020, and then COVID kind of messed a few things up, and then I signed for three years. So that was the only thing I really knew about pro wrestling. But yeah, then like the week later after I had that conversation, I was booked for TV. I was booked to be on TV, and they called me that Monday, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, we just chose not to re-sign you,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, ouch,’ stab in the heart, twist. [Laughs]," Steveson said.
When asked whether they gave him a reason, he stated that they did not, and he did not know what to ask. He explained how he knew athletes in other sports got released without being given an answer, so he did not want to waste his breath. Steveson said that he did not have any hard feelings regarding his departure.
"No, I don't think they really give a reason, but I was like kind of taken off-guard. So I didn't know what to really ask. Because I knew just from basketball, I have friends that get released, and they don't really get an answer either. So I was like, I don't really want to waste my breath, and at the time, I was just sitting at home by myself. So I was trying to gather everything, like, ‘What happened?’ The weeks before, everything was going great, you know? Then it feels like the conversation you have with the person, and then things go like that. I'm like, ‘Dang, that was doing good.’ No hard feelings. I said it before, no hard feelings. I'd go back, but it was just like, ‘Oh, like, okay,'" Steveson said.
Steveson was then asked whether he had spoken to anyone in WWE about what they would be looking for as far as a potential return. Steveson replied by saying that a lot of the athletes that WWE hires now come from collegiate backgrounds, so they are used to being coached and given negative criticism.
"Yeah, I don't know. ‘Cause a lot of people that hire now, they're all high-level athletes, collegiate athletes. So I think a lot of us were used to being coached, like we can take negative criticism, also. That just comes with being a divisional athlete, you're used to taking negative criticism and then just being told what to do. Like, ‘Hey, you need to do this. You need to bust your butt. This will happen. You working towards this,’ and stuff like that. I don't really know. Kind of like still lost for words a little bit, I guess," Steveson said.
Steveson previously said that he would accept an offer to return to WWE, and he had no hard feelings. Check out his comments here.
Steveson has expressed his interest in competing in Bloodsport. Click here to see what he had to say.
