WWE’s Olympic Gold Medalist club may have just become a bit less exclusive.
Gable Steveson, a Heavyweight wrestler for both the University of Minnesota and the United States Olympic Team, just captured the Olympic Gold Medal in the Men’s 125 kg weight class. Steveson is the first American Heavyweight to win the gold since Bruce Baumgartner at the 1992 games in Barcelona.
Steveson, who defeated three-time world champion Geno Petriashvili of Georgia to win the gold, has been unstoppable on the mat since he arrived at Minnesota. The Golden Gopher holds a career record of 67-2, is currently on a 34-match win streak, hasn’t lost a match since the 2019 NCAA Semi-Finals, and won his first college National Championship this past March.
Mind you, Steveson just turned 21 in May.
As you can imagine, WWE has been in hot pursuit of the U.S Olympian. Former full-time competitor and current executive for the company Triple H even sent out a tweet congratulating Stevenson on his Olympic victory.
The interest between Gable and a run in WWE hasn’t been one-sided either. Steveson has a close relationship with fellow Minnesota star Brock Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman. He even tweeted at Vince McMahon following his NCAA Championship win in March.
Steveson was even put on camera at NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver in April, with WWE’s Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon by his side.
NXT has used these ringside-Takeover-appearances to tease potential signees before. In the past stars such as Keith Lee, Matt Riddle, Kushida, and Ricochet have appeared at NXT Takeover just before signing with the company.
If WWE and the new Heavyweight Champion of the World were able to come to an agreement, he’d be the first Olympic Gold Medalist to compete for the company since five-time WWE World Champion Kurt Angle. The former champ famously won the gold at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta (with a broken freakin’ neck) before signing with WWE in 98’.
There is no word as of now on the contract talks, if any, between WWE and Gable Steveson.
