WWE Star Steps Away From Outside Commitments To Focus On Pro-Wrestling

WWE

It has now been confirmed that Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson will not be wrestling for the University of Minnesota this season.

Steveson signed an exclusive agreement with WWE in September 2021, but returned to college wrestling under an NIL deal.

Despite WWE initially presenting Steveson as a star to watch, and drafting him to the Raw brand that October, he made his pro-wrestling debut almost two years later at NXT The Great American Bash in July 2023.

Steveson has wrestled a number of live event matches since then, fuelling speculation about his WWE TV return.

Brandon Eggum, the head wrestling coach at the University of Minnesota, has now confirmed that WWE wanted Steveson to solely focus on his pro-wrestling career.

Noting that Steveson won’t be competing in amateur wrestling representing the University of Minnesota in a video on Twitter, Eggum said:

“Also, quick update on Gable Steveson. Unfortunately, he will not be able to compete for us this season. He is a great competitor. He’s always wanted to compete for the University of Minnesota.

“But ultimately, the WWE would prefer that he’s solely focused on his professional wrestling career at this time. So whenever he’s not at the WWE Performance Center down in Florida, he’s up here in our realm working with our heavyweights which is awesome.

“We just can’t thank him enough for the impact he’s had on our program. We’ve loved following him and watching him compete on the mat, he’s amazing and now we’re excited to watch him in his WWE career so, thank you Gable Steveson from our program and from all the Gopher fans across the country and the world and we look forward to watching you in your career here moving forward.

Steveson notably competed in a dark match ahead of the January 5 edition of SmackDown, defeating Cedric Alexander in singles action.

Transcription via POST Wrestling.

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• Olympic
• NIL
• gable steveson
• wwe

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