Former Top Prospect Admits Not Giving His All During WWE Run

A former accomplished amateur wrestler admits he wasn’t 100% committed to being a WWE superstar.

Gable Steveson signed a contract with WWE in late 2021 after winning an Olympic Gold Medal as a wrestler for the US in the Tokyo games, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That meant that Steveson was the second male gold medal-winning wrestler that the company signed after the WWE Hall of Famer, Kurt Angle.

There were high expectations for Steveson, but he never lived up to them as a WWE superstar. Instead, Gable Steveson was released by WWE in May 2024 after wrestling only one televised match in the company.

Since leaving WWE, Steveson tried out for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and didn’t make the team. Steveson has also started his MMA career, and he has a 2-0 record with wins in LFA & APFC. Steveson also won a 15-second boxing fight for Dirty Boxing in October.

Steveson is hoping to debut in the UFC in 2026, and many people believe that he could do very well there due to his success as an amateur wrestler.

The 25-year-old Steveson appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast to say that he enjoyed his time in WWE, but he wasn’t fully committed to it.

“Honestly, I had a great experience. I have nothing wrong with anybody there. TKO was great. ‘Triple H’ Paul Levesque was great, Stephanie, Vince, everybody was great.“

“I just had a competitive drive that I needed to get out. And so, you know when you have that gap there, you can’t do both. I was trying to bridge both, and I wasn’t giving my 100 percent to the business. And if I’m not going to give 100 percent to the business, then you might as well X me out because it’s already over with. That’s practically how it happened.”

Gable Steveson Is Open To A WWE Return

In his only televised NXT match, Gable Steveson faced Baron Corbin at Great American Bash 2023 in a match that ended as a double countout. Steveson was booed by the fans throughout the match, even though he was the babyface, and the fans chanted “Bulls**t” at the finish.

Later in the podcast, Steveson said he would be open to a WWE return after he becomes the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

“I would love to go back in the future.

I would do it again most definitely because I have no hard feelings to them and that’s how it goes.”

Whether WWE wants Steveson wrestling for them again is unknown at this time.