Gable Steveson On Why He Is Going To WWE SummerSlam
Olympic gold medalist wrestler Gable Steveson is set to attend WWE's SummerSlam pay-per-view on Saturday, August 21 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
As noted, Steveson won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics last week, becoming the first U.S. heavyweight to win the men's freestyle 125kb event since 1992. You can click here for details on the win with photos/video and comments from WWE and others. Steveson just spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated and said he's going to SummerSlam to watch WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns "do his thing" against John Cena.
"I'm heading over to Vegas to watch the champ Roman Reigns do his thing," Steveson said. "John Cena is great, but he's still going to have to acknowledge Roman Reigns."
We noted earlier today how Steveson has tweeted WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon and UFC President Dana White this week, as speculation on his future continues. You can click here for that report, along with the latest on his future in collegiate wrestling, MMA or WWE. Steveson told SI that he heard from long-time mentors Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar shortly after the big gold medal win in Tokyo. Steveson said Heyman and Lesnar have been positive influences in his life since he was in high school, and if he does sign with WWE, he would want to align himself with Heyman on-camera, and off. Steveson declared that he'd be a "Paul Heyman Guy" if he went to WWE.
"If I ever go to WWE, I'd be a 'Paul Heyman Guy,'" Steveson said. "Heyman is a legend. We'd be two people doing great things, and that would be a tough team to beat. And I've known Brock since I was in high school. He's been there for me for a long time, making sure I do things the right way and put my best foot forward."
We've noted how Gable's brother, Bobby Steveson, has been training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando and was praised for his recent work. Bobby has been expected to officially start under his WWE contract with the next class of Performance Center recruits. Gable revealed to SI that Bobby will officially report to the Performance Center as a contracted WWE talent next week. This means WWE will likely be announcing a new class of recruits next week.
The Steveson Brothers have been expected to sign with WWE at some point for a few years now. Gable and Bobby have attended several WWE events in the past, and Gable was shown on camera at "Takeover: Stand and Deliver" back in April, with WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon and former WWE Talent Relations head Canyon Ceman. Triple H spoke about Gable in a post-Takeover media call and said they had been talking, and he feels like Gable will be amazing in WWE. Gable told SI that WWE has been great to him, as have people from UFC. He also has interest from the NFL, but is not ready to make a decision on his future just yet.
"WWE has been so great to me," Steveson said. "Triple H, Brock, Heyman, Ric Flair and so many others have been so supportive. So have people from UFC, like Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones and Henry Cejudo, who have also sent me congratulations. So many great organizations and teams have reached out. A scout from the Bills, there is a connection with the Ravens. The Olympic gold medal is helping me see the world, so my next step is going to be a big decision. I'm going to decompress now and think about it."