Kurt Angle still thinks that Gable Steveson has potential.
Before making his in-ring debut for WWE in July 2023, many fans and people within the industry had high hopes for Gable Steveson. During his time at the University Of Minnesota, Steveson won multiple NCAA Wrestling Championships, which put him on the radar of WWE and many wrestling fans around the world.
As previously mentioned, Steveson finally made his in-ring debut for WWE at NXT's Great American Bash premium live event on July 30, 2023, facing Baron Corbin. After only lasting six minutes, the match ended in a double count out, which was disappointing to many.
In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Kurt Angle praised Steveson's athletic ability, but also noted that he has to break the mold of being an amateur wrestler and learn how to show emotion when performing for fans. Angle also recalled doing a pre-tape promo with Steveson in Pittsburgh.
"First of all, he's an incredible athlete. You know, he not only incredible on the mat wrestling, I mean, this kid, you know, he can do backflips. He's really athletic, super athletic. And I think he's gonna have a great future. I just don't know how entertaining he's gonna be. I know that he loves to talk, a lot of his friends that I talked to say he's kind of a loudmouth, which is kind of good. Because you want to be able to, you don't want to be shy when you're in this. You know, I was a shy kid, and when I went to WWE, I had to learn how to suck it up and just go out there and put everything on the line. And it was really a hard transition for me. But I think Gable Stevenson will have the same thing. He'll probably, you know, have to, you know, break that mold of being an amateur wrestler, because as an amateur wrestler, you show no emotion. You go out there and you focus and you wrestle and you go from the pen. It's not like pro wrestling, we have to show people emotion. You have to show if you're scared, or if you're mad or if you're, you know, excited. So there's, there's a lot. You have to have incredible charisma. And I think that Gable has that. I just don't know how well he's going to translate that when he starts talking. I do remember doing a pre-tape with him in Pittsburgh. And he did alright. You know, he didn't do incredibly well. But he did well, that it was like, Okay, this kid. He has potential. I think he's going to be pretty good. And so I expect him to have a great career. I don't know if he's going to have the career I had, but I think he could he could definitely."
Steveson has not appeared or been mentioned on NXT programming since the Great American Bash premium live event.
A Peacock documentary on Kurt Angle was recently announced. Fans can learn more about the documentary by clicking here.
Special thanks to Chris Van Vliet for the quote(s).
