Kemo
10-29-2021, 10:11 PM
Olympic Gold Medalist Gable Steveson was the latest guest on the WWE After the Bell Podcast with Corey Graves where the newest addition to Monday Night RAW spoke about the help he received from Brock Lesnar while at the University of Minnesota. The 21-year-old talked about going to the same school as Lesnar for wrestling and revealed the kind words the former WWE Champion gave him about his journey to becoming a WWE superstar.
“Brock, a while ago, was preparing me for the long journey he knew I was going to have,” Steveson said. “Before I even won the National title, before I was doing the things I’ve been doing now, before Olympic Gold, Brock came in my freshman year in college and talked to me about winning and friends and having the right people in the circle around you.
“Having guys like that that you really don’t see that are big time ballers and players in the world, to have him come in and sit me down and give me the gist of how his life was and how he became so successful and try to put it into me. It’s like a once in a lifetime thing you have to listen to, not something that you shy away from. You have to take those words and run with them. I took everything he said and ran with it and did the best I could and I’m here now so it looks pretty good I guess.”
The Olympic Gold Medalist became the first WWE superstar to sign an NCAA NIL (names, image, likeness) deal, giving him the ability to join the roster while still defending his NCAA title for the University of Minnesota. Steveson has yet to make his in-ring debut as a member of Monday Night RAW after he was selected to the brand during the WWE Draft.
Although he has yet to wrestle in WWE, Steveson has appeared on multiple shows now including August’s WWE SummerSlam event where he and Tamyra Mensah-Stock appeared with their Olympic Gold Medals. The 21-year-old spoke about his appearance at SummerSlam and how cool of an experience it was for him to get a reaction from the crowd.
“When I came out for that SummerSlam and Triple H brought me down from the suite, he was like ‘you’re going to be out there on stage’,” Steveson said. “I was like this is something that kids always want to do. You see kids like say I wonder what it feels like to be in front of 50,000 people on a big screen on the stage. I get out there and it just felt natural, normal. It felt like a regular thing, I get into bed right here next to me and it was like that. When I got out there fans were cheering, I gave them a couple waves. It was cool to see all those people cheering and they knew who I was before I even was signed to the WWE.”
Gable was also asked who he’d like to mix it up with when he finally debuts in WWE. Of all the names, Steveson choose three of the WWE’s top stars and stated that he’s a “title seeker” and always has been.
“I would love to mix it up with Roman [Reigns],” Steveson said. “I really like Roman right now and what he’s doing, he’s perfect and he has the look and talk, everything about him is perfect. I would love to mix it up with him and obviously [Brock] Lesnar. You’ve got to have two [wrestlers] that won NCAA Championships in our own city get after it. I would love to go face-to-face with Brock Lesnar, love to go face-to-face with Roman Reigns. Those guys are doing a good job.
“I am on Monday Night RAW so right now I’d like to take care of Big E just because he’s the champion. I’m title seeking, I’ve always been that title seeker. Gold medal, NCAA Championship, anything else. Stuff I’ve accomplished and I need that WWE belt, whether it’s Monday night or Friday night. I’d love to be that person that people show up and watch and like I said, wherever Gable is, that show ends up being perfect.”
“Brock, a while ago, was preparing me for the long journey he knew I was going to have,” Steveson said. “Before I even won the National title, before I was doing the things I’ve been doing now, before Olympic Gold, Brock came in my freshman year in college and talked to me about winning and friends and having the right people in the circle around you.
“Having guys like that that you really don’t see that are big time ballers and players in the world, to have him come in and sit me down and give me the gist of how his life was and how he became so successful and try to put it into me. It’s like a once in a lifetime thing you have to listen to, not something that you shy away from. You have to take those words and run with them. I took everything he said and ran with it and did the best I could and I’m here now so it looks pretty good I guess.”
The Olympic Gold Medalist became the first WWE superstar to sign an NCAA NIL (names, image, likeness) deal, giving him the ability to join the roster while still defending his NCAA title for the University of Minnesota. Steveson has yet to make his in-ring debut as a member of Monday Night RAW after he was selected to the brand during the WWE Draft.
Although he has yet to wrestle in WWE, Steveson has appeared on multiple shows now including August’s WWE SummerSlam event where he and Tamyra Mensah-Stock appeared with their Olympic Gold Medals. The 21-year-old spoke about his appearance at SummerSlam and how cool of an experience it was for him to get a reaction from the crowd.
“When I came out for that SummerSlam and Triple H brought me down from the suite, he was like ‘you’re going to be out there on stage’,” Steveson said. “I was like this is something that kids always want to do. You see kids like say I wonder what it feels like to be in front of 50,000 people on a big screen on the stage. I get out there and it just felt natural, normal. It felt like a regular thing, I get into bed right here next to me and it was like that. When I got out there fans were cheering, I gave them a couple waves. It was cool to see all those people cheering and they knew who I was before I even was signed to the WWE.”
Gable was also asked who he’d like to mix it up with when he finally debuts in WWE. Of all the names, Steveson choose three of the WWE’s top stars and stated that he’s a “title seeker” and always has been.
“I would love to mix it up with Roman [Reigns],” Steveson said. “I really like Roman right now and what he’s doing, he’s perfect and he has the look and talk, everything about him is perfect. I would love to mix it up with him and obviously [Brock] Lesnar. You’ve got to have two [wrestlers] that won NCAA Championships in our own city get after it. I would love to go face-to-face with Brock Lesnar, love to go face-to-face with Roman Reigns. Those guys are doing a good job.
“I am on Monday Night RAW so right now I’d like to take care of Big E just because he’s the champion. I’m title seeking, I’ve always been that title seeker. Gold medal, NCAA Championship, anything else. Stuff I’ve accomplished and I need that WWE belt, whether it’s Monday night or Friday night. I’d love to be that person that people show up and watch and like I said, wherever Gable is, that show ends up being perfect.”