WWE didn’t sign Gable Steveson to spend years wrestling dark matches while everyone waited for him to figure things out. The original plan was apparently much crazier — strap a rocket to the Olympic gold medalist and shove him toward the top like Brock Lesnar.
That revelation came out while Dave Meltzer was discussing Steveson’s WWE run on Wrestling Observer Radio following his shocking 12-second UFC loss. The conversation turned to why WWE remained so patient with Steveson despite his slow development, and Meltzer said that gold medal came with enormous expectations from day one. WWE wasn’t looking at Steveson as just another Performance Center project.
“Well, they did dump him quicker than Steveson because Steveson, you know, had the gold medal and they. You got to remember that, you know, the original idea for Steveson was to freaking Brock Lesnar him right away.”
That wasn’t some comparison invented after the fact. Ringside News covered the plan all the way back in 2022, when it was revealed that WWE wanted to book Steveson as its next Brock Lesnar and fast-track him toward major programs almost immediately. Steveson was already getting the superstar treatment before he’d proven he could actually work at that level. WWE drafted him to RAW before his real in-ring career even got moving, put him in front of the WrestleMania crowd and clearly wanted fans to understand that this guy mattered.
Triple H later revealed that he was even supposed to be involved in helping launch Steveson. Ringside News previously covered Triple H confirming that he had discussed doing something with Steveson at WrestleMania 38 before his health forced him to retire from the ring.
The problem was that WWE’s timetable and Steveson’s development were heading in completely different directions. Meltzer said WWE wanted Steveson involved at WrestleMania almost immediately, but the company eventually reached a point where it simply didn’t trust him enough to put that kind of spotlight on him.
“You know, like. Like he was going to go in there. I didn’t think it was going to be with Chad Gable.”
That original vision apparently included getting Steveson through matches with proven talent while he learned on the fly. Meltzer specifically pointed to Chad Gable as somebody WWE probably could have used to guide Steveson through something short. The problem was everything surrounding the wrestling.
“He was going to be at Mania right away and everything, but he just didn’t progress enough to where they trusted putting him out there like they could have gotten him through a match with Chad Gable, probably, and a short match and everything like that. But I think that they didn’t trust the spotlight on him when he couldn’t talk.”
That is one hell of a fall from “next Brock Lesnar.” WWE had a legitimate Olympic gold medalist, ridiculous athletic credentials and a guy the company initially wanted near the top of the card almost immediately. Instead, Ringside News exclusively learned in 2022 that Steveson’s name had stopped coming up in WWE creative discussions entirely.
Meltzer said Steveson’s dark matches weren’t exactly helping him claw his way back into WWE’s confidence either. Trevor Lee, aka Cameron Grimes, was put across the ring from Steveson on multiple occasions, giving the Olympic champion an experienced hand to work with. Meltzer wasn’t impressed with what he saw. He then explained why Lee was being used against Steveson and how those matches came across.
“And I watched. I watched several of his matches with Trevor Lee, which by the way, right before the fight, Trevor Lee text, ‘Did you see that?’ He said, ‘I’m about to start hate watching.’”
“And it was. It was Trevor Lee worked with him at a bunch of dark matches that was the opponent, because Trevor Lee such a great worker. Right? And I remember seeing two of them, and they were, you know, they weren’t good. And I know how good Trevor Lee is.”
By May 2024, WWE finally cut Steveson loose. The man once earmarked for a Brock Lesnar-style rocket push left without ever coming remotely close to the spot WWE originally imagined for him.
That’s what makes Steveson’s WWE story so wild. This wasn’t somebody the company signed hoping maybe he’d eventually surprise them — WWE thought it had another freak athlete capable of skipping the line and crashing straight into the big leagues. Instead, the rocket never even got off the launchpad.
What do you think killed Gable Steveson’s WWE push before it ever really started? Could WWE have salvaged the situation with a different approach, or was the Brock Lesnar comparison way too much pressure from the beginning? Leave your feedback in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
