Gable Dan Steveson (born May 31, 2000) is an American professional wrestler and freestyle and folkstyle wrestler.[4] He is currently signed to WWE, where he was appointed to the Rawbrand in 2021 under his real name, but has yet to have his debut match. He is the second Olympic wrestling gold medalist to be signed by the company, after Kurt Angle.
Steveson was born in Portage, Indiana, where he started wrestling as soon as he could walk, following his two older brother's footsteps.[13] His name Gable Dan was given by his mother after legendary wrestler Dan Gable.[14] After winning multiple youth-level national tournaments, the Steveson family moved to Apple Valley, Minnesota when Gable was in the seventh grade, so he and his brother Bobby could compete for powerhouse Apple Valley High School.[13] As a 13-year old, Steveson reached the 195-pound state finals with a 39–2 record, but was defeated to claim second place, losing his last high school match.[15] After that season, Steveson racked up four state titles and a 171 match win-streak, with his last two state tournaments lasting a combined 28 seconds.[16] For his 2017 performance, he received the Junior Schalles Award for best high school pinner.[17] The next year, he was named the Junior Hodge Trophy winner.[9] In freestyle, Steveson claimed multiple age-group World Championships.[18] The top-recruit, he chose to remain local and attend the University of Minnesota.[19]
Collegiate and freestyle wrestling career
2018–2019
Steveson, a high school senior, placed fourth at the 2018 US Open Nationals and the US World Team Trials in April and May respectively, beating the likes of NCAA Division I All-American Tanner Hall and fellow Junior World Champion Dom Bradley in the freestyle tournaments.[20][21]
Steveson (left) wrestling Cory Daniel in December 2018
Steveson started his collegiate wrestlingfreshman season using a redshirt, winning titles at the Daktronics and Bison Open tournaments. Since his redshirt was pulled in November,[22] he compiled an undefeated 14–0 record in dual meets and a Cliff Keen Invitational title during regular season, with multiple wins over high ranked opponents, most notably second-ranked Derek White in his collegiate debut.[23] Entering the B1G championships as the top-seed, he opened up with a technical fall and two decisions to make it to the finals, where he faced second-seeded Anthony Cassar from Penn State. He lost to Cassar by one point, marking his first defeat in folkstyle since eighth grade.[24] At the 2019 NCAA Division I National Championships, he made it to the semifinals, where he was once again defeated by Cassar by the same 4–3 score.[25] He then won two more matches to claim third place and All-American status.[26]
A recently crowned All-American, Steveson returned to freestyle in May 2019 and became a Final X contestant when he ran through the US World Team Trials Challenge, dismantling 2018 Greco-Roman World finalistAdam Coon, two-time NCAA National champion Tony Nelson, two-time All-American Dom Bradley, and two-time All-American Nick Nevills.[27] However, he lost to two-time World Medalist Nick Gwiazdowski twice by criteria and was unable to make the US World Team.[28]
Steveson then made his international senior debut at the Alexander Medved Prizes in August 2019, where he placed second to Khasanboy Rakhimov.[29] In his last freestyle competition of the year, Steveson added a gold medal to his credit from the Bill Farrell Memorial International in November 2019, after outscoring four opponents 32 points to 4, qualifying for the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials.[30]
2019–2020
Sexual assault allegation & suspension
Steveson's sophomore season was interrupted in June 2019 when he was arrested along with a teammate on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct.[31] Both were released without charges shortly after due to inadequate evidence.[32][33] However, the University of Minnesota did not lift its suspensions of the two until six months later in December.[34]
Return
After his suspension was pulled and wrestling back to folkstyle, Steveson compiled 12 wins and no losses in duals during regular season,[35] becoming the top-ranked 285-pounder in the United States.[36] Despite being number one in the rankings, Steveson entered the B1G championships as the second seed.[37] At the tournament, he opened up with a fall over the tenth seed, and a decision over the third seed to make it to the finale, where he defeated the top-seeded Mason Parris from Michigan to claim the conference title.[38] Steveson was then scheduled to compete at the NCAA championships as the top-seed,[39] but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[40] After the season ended, he was named a first team NCAA Division IAll-American due to his performance through the season.[41][42]
After ten months out of freestyle competition, Steveson wrestled Trent Hillger at the annual Beat The Streets event on September 17, 2020, showing massive skill improvements and winning by technical fall in the first period.[45]
In October 2020, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to winter athletes due to the last season being cut short, this led to Steveson getting an extra year of eligibility.[46]
Steveson represented the Gopher WC at 125 kilograms in the FloWrestling: RTC Cup from December 4 to 5, 2020, alongside graduated Gopher Tony Nelson.[47] After siting out in the dual against the Cliff Keen WC, Steveson faced the heavily accomplished Nick Gwiazdowski from the Wolfpack RTC in an anticipated rematch. He edged the two-time Pan American champion with a score of 4 to 1 points.[48] He then tech'd Jordan Wood to defeat him for the sixth time in freestyle competition and place sixth as a team.[49]
2020–2021
Competing as a junior during the regular season, he compiled a 9–0 record with a 100 percent bonus rate.[50] During the postseason, he continued his dominance, making his third consecutive Big Ten Championship final and winning his second title, dominating the second-ranked wrestler in the country and '19 Junior World Champion Mason Parris en route to a major decision.[51] At the NCAAs, Steveson compiled two bonus points victories en route to the quarterfinals, where he faced '17 Cadet World Champion from Penn State Greg Kerkvliet, whom he was able to shut down but fell short of bonus points. Later, he major'd the fourth seed from Iowa Tony Cassioppi for the second time in the season and advanced to the finals, where he once again shut down Mason Parris to claim the NCAA National Championship.[52] After the season, the dominant Steveson was awarded the prestigious Dan Hodge Trophy as the best college wrestler of the season, along with Spencer Lee from Iowa.[53]
On August 5, Steveson competed at the first date of the men's freestyle 125 kg event, where he outscored his three high-level opponents with a combined perfect score of 23–0 to secure himself a medal and advance to the finals, demolishing '15 Asian ChampionAiaal Lazarev from Kyrgyzstan, defending Olympic champion and multiple-time World ChampionTaha Akgül from Turkey and '19 U23 World medalistMönkhtöriin Lkhagvagerel from Mongolia.[59] After stunning the field on his way to the finale, he faced three-time and reigning World ChampionGeno Petriashvili from Georgia.[59] Onto the second period, Steveson was up 4–0 with two takedowns, though the Georgian scored two points of his own to Steveson's one to make it 5–2, before truly turning the tables and scoring a takedown and two gut-wrenches for six points (5–8) with a minute and a half left.[60] With ten seconds left, Steveson scored a takedown to make it 7–8, and still trailing behind by a point, he rallied and got another takedown with half a second left to top the World Champion with a 9–8 score.[61] After a failed challenge by Petriashvili's corner, Steveson earned the 2020 Summer Olympic Games gold medal with a hard-fought 10–8 score over the Georgian.[62] With this new championship, Steveson became the first American super-heavyweight to win freestyle Olympic gold since Bruce Baumgartner in 1992.[63][64] With his win, Gable Steveson became the youngest freestyle wrestler to win Olympic gold at super heavyweight (125 kg) at the age of 21 years, two months and six days.[65]
As an Olympic medalist, Steveson earned the right to automatically represent the United States at the 2021 World Championships without having to compete domestically to make the US World Team.[66] On August 15, 2021, Steveson notified USA Wrestling that he would reject the bid in order to pursue other ventures.[67]
2021–2023
In September 2021, it was announced that despite Steveson signing with WWE, he would return to college wrestling under an NIL deal.[68] Steveson ran through regular season and swept the B1G Championship not short of bonus points, earning his third and last conference title with a 13–0 record.[69] He was named the Big Ten Athlete of the Year for 2022.[70]
At the 2022 NCAA Division I National Championships, Steveson started off with two technical falls, before defeating Northwestern's Lucas Davison and Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet by decision to cruise to the finals.[71] In the finale, he defeated previously unbeaten in the season Cohlton Schultz from Arizona State University, six points to two.[72] After the win, Steveson gave his last signature backflip in a Minnesota singlet and, in an emotional moment, left his shoes on the center of the mat as a sign of respect for the sport and signaling retirement from amateur wrestling, followed by a standing ovation by the crowd.[72] After the tournament, Steveson was named the most outstanding wrestler.[73][74][75]
Steveson went out as one of the greatest and most dominant collegiate wrestlers in the history of the sport, as a Dan Hodge Trophy winner, two-time NCAA Division I National champion and three-time Big Ten Conference champion.[76] He is the first and only heavyweight wrestler to win the Dan Hodge Trophy multiple times.[77]
Steveson returned to freestyle competition at the 2023 US Open Wrestling Championships, since last wrestling at the Tokyo Olympics. He won the tournament, dominating the competition, going 44–1 against his opponents.[78] He was also named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.[79]
Professional wrestling career
In late 2020, Steveson said pursuing a career in WWE as a professional wrestler in order to become a superstar is "a dream I've had since I was a kid".[80] Prior to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Steveson signed a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) marketing deal with MMA manager Dave Martin.[81] After winning the Olympic gold medal, Steveson gained massive notoriety on social media, and teased the public on whether he would continue wrestling or pursue a career in mixed martial arts or professional wrestling next.[82] Steveson then made a brief appearance at WWE's SummerSlam event on August 21, 2021,[83] and then on September 4, it was announced that Steveson had reportedly signed a contract with WWE.[84] Five days later, WWE confirmed they had signed Steveson to an NIL (Next In Line) deal. Steveson is only the second Olympic gold medalist to be signed by the company, after Kurt Angle.[85] During a July 2022 interview, former WWE star Mr. Kennedy confirmed he is training Steveson.
As part of the 2021 WWE Draft, a storyline process in which the company assigns the wrestlers to exclusively appear on a certain show, Steveson was drafted to the Raw brand,[86] which became effective October 22, 2021.[87] Steveson would make his first appearance in April 2022 at WrestleMania 38 Night 1, being introduced by Stephanie McMahon. At WrestleMania Night 2, Steveson confronted Chad Gable after the opening match and delivered a suplex to him. He later appeared on the December 9, 2022, episode of SmackDown for Kurt Angle's birthday celebration.
