Gable Steveson is a can't miss prospect -- in almost anything.
A brand new national wrestling champion at 285 pounds, headed to the Olympic trials and hopeful for gold this year, but pro wrestling fans took note of a particularly ambitious tweet Gable posted this past weekend.
I am going to be the biggest star @wwe has ever had.
— Gable Steveson (@GSteveson) March 28, 2021
Immediately after the post, Fightful got in touch with the collegiate wrestling juggernaut and spoke with him about the post, and the buzz he garnered from the pro wrestling world after he tweeted it.
"I’m just doing my thing, to be honest. It’s hard to explain, just the connections that I have. Taking the pictures with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman, knowing those guys early on and just having that fan base tweet to at, kinda grew me into a different person. So, it’s crazy that I’m stepping into this realm, maybe soon, and that I’m building a fan base already. So, it’s nice to see," Steveson said.
Steveson has plenty of options following his amateur wrestling career, which is in full swing. When we asked how long he's been interested in pro wrestling, he wasn't shy in pointing out some pretty distinct inspirations.
"It’s something from growing up, I’ve always wanted to do this. I think it’s a big deal for me to get into this side. Just like I mentioned before, knowing Lesnar and having the comparison there is a great thing, too. I also enjoy the Rock and everything he does. He’s one of my favorites besides Brock. But, yeah, it’s always been a dream of mine to enter this stage and so hopefully we get into it and the announcement comes here or there. I think Lesnar was really the first that caught my eye. ‘Cause he’s been the greatest of all time for a while now and I’ve always enjoyed watching Lesnar. I watched him in all the UFC fights, WWE. But, also one person that has really influenced my go to with this has been the Rock. He’s always been my favorite person to, movie wise and everything. I’ve always wanted to be going to the movie scene. The only person I ever want to meet ever, besides the people I’ve met before, the Rock and a few others. So, besides those two, I think Kurt Angle—he’s gotta be one of the next best ones, too—and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Those guys are legends. But, I like Kurt Angle just because the wrestling background and his Olympic gold medal and with the broken neck, too, was a crazy story. Those three and four are my epitome of greatness," Gable said.
Steveson's entertaining antics surrounding his outstanding success on the mats have drawn the ire of some, and the admiration of others. Opposing coaches can be heard questioning whether he's "crossed the line" in slapping some opponents and flipping after victories. Steveson says he's just a born entertainer.
"It’s very natural. I’ve been like this my whole life. The entertainment in me has always struck when it comes at the right time. So, I don’t even think about a lot of things. I just, when mid-match something will pop-up, and I’ll see it and I’ll adjust and I’ll do a little something something to get the crowd into it. You know, here and there people like it or people don’t. But, at the end of the day, you’re watching," said the new NCAA Champ.
Sports entertainment isn't the only thing Gable has his eye on, either. By the sounds of it, Gable is open to making his mark on a number of different sports, and maybe even acting.
"I’m very interested in the entertainment aspect of things. I love acting. I love doing all that stuff. That’s been my goal for a long time now is to being in something like this. But, also, there’s a lot of opportunities out there besides fighting. I love fighting, too, and hopefully one day I can step into the Octagon, also. But, one thing that’s really struck my mind is been football, too. I think if I get the chance and can go play somewhere, I most definitely would. I think I can be a ham on the field with just how I am. But, it’s gonna be a lot to learn and respect to those guys in all those fields, but I want to get out there and hopefully touch the field one time and just recreate a legacy just like Lesnar did. But, put my own spice on it. It’s always stuck out in my mind that he’s done a lot of great things with himself. Especially getting so far in the Vikings trial, and probably, most likely, getting on the team, just like you mentioned before. But, I like all the things that he has done and it’s crazy that he’s done all those things and I think recreating another path of doing the same thing, but in my own fashion and how I want to do it. We’re obviously two different people. He went about things a lot of ways and I might go different about my things. But, at the end of the day, it’s great footsteps to follow in and I hope that I can capitalize on all of them," said the monstrous Olympic hopeful.
Of course, as is tradition, there's often a stigma associated with jumping from the world of amateur to professional wrestling. You've heard the stories, and seen the naysayers yourself by this point, but Steveson tells us that's not something that he's going to let affect what he's wanted to do.
"Oh, yeah," Steveson confirmed. "There’s so many people out there that ask me, ‘Why?’ Why do I want to go into this field? It’s easy for them to say why and I’ve put in a lot of time and effort to get this spot and so, even on Twitter, seeing tweets saying, ‘Oh, you can’t do this, you can’t do that.’ It’s all part of the game. But, at the end of the day, like I mentioned, people will obviously always tune in to what you have to do and make sure they keep track of your steps."
Some have done better than others making the jump. Gable is hardly the most straight-laced, serious personality you'll see, despite the success and work ethic that would suggest otherwise. He's well aware of the other aspects of sports entertainment, and he's ready to embrace them. The grand stage of WrestleMania is something that appeals to him specifically.
"I see myself being, just an overall package of fun, serious, serious when I need to be. I just see the whole package of myself and there’s not a lot of people that can bring the whole package at once. I feel that I can bring a lot to the table and make the most of every little detail that I can put forth onto the TV scene. I feel like a lot of those guys have a lot of great packages, but overall I think that I can hit every single point and be a great star. The main thing I envision is WrestleMania—I mean, everybody can say this, but—having, when there’s a lot of fans that can be back in the crowds, having that rush of going out there in front of that 40,000+ people and having your name called as one of those memories is probably the best thing for me to look at. My main thing is that WrestleMania spotlight and running out in front of all them thousands of people is gonna be crazy. That’s gonna be the ultimate rush ever," Steveson told us, days before the Olympic trials.
As mentioned, Steveson's WWE tweet was wedged between two pretty significant happenings -- the NCAA Championships and the Olympic trials. As a result, he hasn't been able to keep up with too much WWE of late.
"I’ve been really set on amateur wrestling, especially last week. The NCAA Championship was a very important goal for me, especially due to COVID canceled it last year. So, I had to wait an extra year to get the NCAA title. I mean, I’m set on this Olympic trials. I want to get on this Olympic team and make another statement for myself. I am sandwiched with a lot of things and just taking on everything I can do is so hard and important. But, I’m locked in and ready to win a lot of things and go do great things, too.
That doesn't mean Gable has been completely detached from pro wrestling, as he's very aware of music superstar Bad Bunny's WrestleMania appearance.
"I know. I know. I love Bad Bunny. He's a great artist!"
So what's next? For Steveson it's the aforementioned Olympic trials. He's focuses on bringing home Olympic Gold, but that's not to say he hasn't already taken some steps towards his professional wrestling future.
"Yeah, there’s been a few people that have reached out. So, it’s nice for them to tune in to me. Obviously Gerald Brisco is one of them that has always been there. Paul Heyman, he’s a great dude, too. He’s always been there for me. Triple H has said, ‘Hi.’ So, we’ve all got good connections and it’ll come to light soon. I know NXT is getting a big following. AEW is really, really huge right now. It’s all a waiting game to see where I’d like to go. But, I think the big show is where I need to be and I think WWE has the show with the most biggest stars and give the biggest production to the best people. So, I think whatever’s best fit. But, I just like being the top guy and I like working my way to the top and do what I can to be the best person possible," Steveson noted. "Time will tell. I’m determined and I’m ready and good to go as always."
You can follow Gable Steveson on Twitter, as he heads towards
