November Gable Steveson update

[1032004]

10 minutes ago, JimmyCinnabon said:

 

There is no guarantee that he will win that gold medal, though. The WWE offers something that international competition cant, and that's the guaranteed money. He doesn't have to legitimately beat someone in WWE to get paid that $1,000,000. 

I definitely don't blame him for trying.   Heck he could quit after a year of WWE and still get the large majority of the wrestling money I mentioned.

[Wrestleknownothing]

54 minutes ago, JimmyCinnabon said:

 

There is no guarantee that he will win that gold medal, though. The WWE offers something that international competition cant, and that's the guaranteed money. He doesn't have to legitimately beat someone in WWE to get paid that $1,000,000. 

The part I still do not get is qualifying for the world team and then not going. The theory is that WWE stopped him, which explains the not going part, but fails to explain the qualifying part. To then be dropped down to the deepest backwaters of non-televised, non-recorded, almost non-existent WWE is just confounding.

And I get that these are all outcome based judgements. He certainly would not have expected this outcome when he made his decision. But given the outcome, I have to wonder if he regrets his decision. Qualifying for the world championships might suggest the answer is yes.

[TNwrestling]

Just now, Wrestleknownothing said:

The part I still do not get is qualifying for the world team and then not going. The theory is that WWE stopped him, which explains the not going part, but fails to explain the qualifying part. To then be dropped down to the deepest backwaters of non-televised, non-recorded, almost non-existent WWE is just confounding.

And I get that these are all outcome based judgements. He certainly would not have expected this outcome when he made his decision. But given the outcome, I have to wonder if he regrets his decision. Qualifying for the world championships might suggest the answer is yes.

By all the accounts I've heard, he wasn't progressing at the pace they thought he would in ring. Then added on top of that he lacks charisma on the mic. They thought they had the next Kurt Angle when they signed him but didnt. 

 

I think world team trials was more of a publicity stunt. I doubt he was ever going to compete in Worlds. 

[alex1fly]

So what's the deal. Is this speculation or is anything confirmed about Gable competing in college again?

[mspart]

I can see it from all sides here.   Us purists want him to compete because he is that good.   But I think it is also reasonable to see that he might want to do something different.  And that was all fine until he won WTTs this year.   Then we all got excited thinking he was back.   But, something happened that did not allow that to happen.   Miscommunication?  A change of mind?   But I think that is where all this is coming from.  

He has apparently decided to concentrate on WWE now.    By the way, the look of his NXT fight that is at the top of this page reminds me of the local pro wrestling scene in Huntsville AL.   Grady Reeves did the commentary for these Saturday afternoon bouts.   I remember thinking this was all fake, until the blood started.   Then that was cool.   My mom told me they cut themselves with razor blades - look at all the scars on their foreheads.   Well, that's what that pic reminded me of. 

Gable has to do what he is gonna do.   Maybe the lure of Olympic glory will bring him back.   Maybe not.   I would think WWE is not all that glamorous.   I watched Kurt Angle on Joe Rogan and he said the mat is plywood and it hurts.  And they get injured quite a bit, much more so than real wrestling.   But they love it for some reason.   But I also think it takes a special personality to be a WWE guy.   I really, honestly, do not see that in Gable which may be why he is having a tough time getting established.  

mspart

[JimmyCinnabon]

18 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

The part I still do not get is qualifying for the world team and then not going. The theory is that WWE stopped him, which explains the not going part, but fails to explain the qualifying part. To then be dropped down to the deepest backwaters of non-televised, non-recorded, almost non-existent WWE is just confounding.

And I get that these are all outcome based judgements. He certainly would not have expected this outcome when he made his decision. But given the outcome, I have to wonder if he regrets his decision. Qualifying for the world championships might suggest the answer is yes.

I couldn't tell you why he didn't go to the WC after qualifying. It seems strange, though.

[CHROMEBIRD]

8 hours ago, 1032004 said:

I’d agree for the most part but I think you’re exaggerating if you’re basing it on what he’s making now.

I thought the rumor was $1 million for his WWE contract right?  Although not sure of the timeframe.

But he got $250k for Olympic Gold.  Another of those and he’s already halfway there.  Throw in world medals, sponsorships and an RTC salary and he should be able to top $1 million in lifetime earnings from freestyle wrestling alone, not even counting NIL for college or coaching.

Of course if he was actually successful in WWE then it’d be a different story.

Can't remember where I read it, but I believe the rumor was that he was getting $200k a year for his WWE contract. But that could have been part of his NIL deal when he was in school.

[TNwrestling]

23 minutes ago, mspart said:

I can see it from all sides here.   Us purists want him to compete because he is that good.   But I think it is also reasonable to see that he might want to do something different.  And that was all fine until he won WTTs this year.   Then we all got excited thinking he was back.   But, something happened that did not allow that to happen.   Miscommunication?  A change of mind?   But I think that is where all this is coming from.  

He has apparently decided to concentrate on WWE now.    By the way, the look of his NXT fight that is at the top of this page reminds me of the local pro wrestling scene in Huntsville AL.   Grady Reeves did the commentary for these Saturday afternoon bouts.   I remember thinking this was all fake, until the blood started.   Then that was cool.   My mom told me they cut themselves with razor blades - look at all the scars on their foreheads.   Well, that's what that pic reminded me of. 

Gable has to do what he is gonna do.   Maybe the lure of Olympic glory will bring him back.   Maybe not.   I would think WWE is not all that glamorous.   I watched Kurt Angle on Joe Rogan and he said the mat is plywood and it hurts.  And they get injured quite a bit, much more so than real wrestling.   But they love it for some reason.   But I also think it takes a special personality to be a WWE guy.   I really, honestly, do not see that in Gable which may be why he is having a tough time getting established.  

mspart

On the weekend I moonlight as a pro wrestler. I travel the country with my little brother as my tag partner.

 

I can tell you first hand the bumps hurt. But you do get used to them after time. We excelled early on because we both came from this same wrestling background. Of course neither of us were D1 athletes so id imagine they thought Gable would take to it like a boat on water too. 

 

Heck, they had just invested in Jacob Kasper from Duke and it paid off. Why wouldnt Gable be an even bigger star? I honestly think he just didnt progress like they all thought he would. After a while he had been forgotten, but WWE fans AND "shoot" wrestling fans as well. Putting him in the WTT got them headlines. I think that was their only goal. I do know their contracts are extremely specific. I don't think he'd be able to return to ncaa's or usaw just becuase he wants to. They have too much money invested in him.

[CHROMEBIRD]

20 minutes ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

Can't remember where I read it, but I believe the rumor was that he was getting $200k a year for his WWE contract. But that could have been part of his NIL deal when he was in school.

These are the first links that came up for me on Google, so take with a grain of salt or three, but they state that Gable's 2023 salary is estimated to be $200k.

https://firstsportz.com/wwe-gable-steveson-net-worth-and-more/
https://fightfans.co.uk/wwe/gable-steveson-net-worth/

[bnwtwg]

1 hour ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

The part I still do not get is qualifying for the world team and then not going. The theory is that WWE stopped him, which explains the not going part, but fails to explain the qualifying part. To then be dropped down to the deepest backwaters of non-televised, non-recorded, almost non-existent WWE is just confounding.

And I get that these are all outcome based judgements. He certainly would not have expected this outcome when he made his decision. But given the outcome, I have to wonder if he regrets his decision. Qualifying for the world championships might suggest the answer is yes.

Take a look at the interaction between Gable and Parris after the second Final X match. Does Parris look like the guy who was just decimated once again by the guy who consistently went out of his way to embarrass him at every single opportunity? In the moment, I chalked it up to maturity & reinvigoration after stepping away from the mat for a year. But now? Nah, I think they both knew before Final X that Parris was going regardless.

[Wrestleknownothing]

1 minute ago, bnwtwg said:

Take a look at the interaction between Gable and Parris after the second Final X match. Does Parris look like the guy who was just decimated once again by the guy who consistently went out of his way to embarrass him at every single opportunity? In the moment, I chalked it up to maturity & reinvigoration after stepping away from the mat for a year. But now? Nah, I think they both knew before Final X that Parris was going regardless.

That is certainly possible. However, it seems self defeating for WWE to pull a publicity stunt and then bury him in house shows thereby effectively wasting the stunt. On the other hand, the weird thing where they streamed his "announcement" seems to exactly fitting that mold.

[JimmyCinnabon]

1 hour ago, mspart said:

I can see it from all sides here.   Us purists want him to compete because he is that good.   But I think it is also reasonable to see that he might want to do something different.  And that was all fine until he won WTTs this year.   Then we all got excited thinking he was back.   But, something happened that did not allow that to happen.   Miscommunication?  A change of mind?   But I think that is where all this is coming from.  

He has apparently decided to concentrate on WWE now.    By the way, the look of his NXT fight that is at the top of this page reminds me of the local pro wrestling scene in Huntsville AL.   Grady Reeves did the commentary for these Saturday afternoon bouts.   I remember thinking this was all fake, until the blood started.   Then that was cool.   My mom told me they cut themselves with razor blades - look at all the scars on their foreheads.   Well, that's what that pic reminded me of. 

Gable has to do what he is gonna do.   Maybe the lure of Olympic glory will bring him back.   Maybe not.   I would think WWE is not all that glamorous.   I watched Kurt Angle on Joe Rogan and he said the mat is plywood and it hurts.  And they get injured quite a bit, much more so than real wrestling.   But they love it for some reason.   But I also think it takes a special personality to be a WWE guy.   I really, honestly, do not see that in Gable which may be why he is having a tough time getting established.  

mspart

The rings 100% suck. When I was in college I went to visit a buddy of mine at another school and they had a small promotion come to put on a show. One of his college friends always had a dream of being a professional wrestler. The deal was that if we helped set up the ring and tear it down after the show we would be allowed to goof around in the ring for like 20 minutes or something. So we did however they said they had to bring their backup ring which was in poor condition so we wouldn't be allowed to use it. Of course they told us this after we set it up for them. Frankly it was all just a scam to get free labor. After seeing what the ring is actually made of I wouldn't even want to mess around in it.

With that being said this guy did end up becoming a pro wrestler but at a small promotion. He was a champ of some sort at one point. He achieved his dream but now at 43 years old he is retired from the pro wrasslin deal.

[bnwtwg]

8 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

That is certainly possible. However, it seems self defeating for WWE to pull a publicity stunt and then bury him in house shows thereby effectively wasting the stunt. On the other hand, the weird thing where they streamed his "announcement" seems to exactly fitting that mold.

You had me at WWE pulls a publicity stunt

[MPhillips]

33 minutes ago, TNwrestling said:

On the weekend I moonlight as a pro wrestler.

Ol' Possum salutes you...

You're as smooth as Tennessee whiskey
You're as sweet as strawberry wine
You're as warm as a glass of brandy
And I stay stoned on your love all the time

[JimmyBT]

On 11/12/2023 at 8:26 AM, MPhillips said:

 

 

 

 

Lack of Crowds didn’t seem to bother him in college and he’s getting paid now either way.  I think he’s fine.   

[JimmyBT]

He’ll be in MMA next. Probably go back n forth. 

[MPhillips]

@JimmyBT That's what I said three days ago...

On 11/12/2023 at 8:00 AM, MPhillips said:

Fortunately he has experience with small crowds. Under 3000 is what he's used to...

 

[1032004]

18 hours ago, TNwrestling said:

Heck, they had just invested in Jacob Kasper from Duke and it paid off. Why wouldnt Gable be an even bigger star? I honestly think he just didnt progress like they all thought he would. After a while he had been forgotten, but WWE fans AND "shoot" wrestling fans as well. Putting him in the WTT got them headlines. I think that was their only goal. I do know their contracts are extremely specific. I don't think he'd be able to return to ncaa's or usaw just becuase he wants to. They have too much money invested in him.

 

Gable wrestling in a non-Olympic year WTT got them headlines?   Who besides (real) wrestling fans even knew he was in it?

What exactly are they looking for as far as "progressing"?   Charisma?  I think most people could've told you before he signed with WWE that he didn't really have charisma, which most people don't but it's not usually something that is learned.  I have a hard time believing he's having much trouble with the athletic aspects of the WWE but I guess it's possible.

When I've read some of the social media posts following his appearances, not sure if WWE cares (or maybe they like it if they want him to be a heel or whatever), but there certainly seems to be a large contingent of WWE fans that don't like him because of his previous criminal allegations.   I would've thought AJ Ferrari would be a natural for WWE (and a rivalry between him and Gable could've been cool), but I assume fans will make the same comments about him as well.  

 

[ugarles]

Maybe what he doesn't care about is international non-Olympic wrestling. Maybe he went through US qualifying, proved that he's still the top dog, then deferred because he doesn't care about gold in non-Olympic years when the only people who watch wrestling also post on message boards. We'll see whether he cares when it's actually the Olympics.

Edited November 15, 2023 by ugarles

[bnwtwg]

2 minutes ago, ugarles said:

Maybe what he doesn't care about is international non-Olympic wrestling. Maybe he went through US qualifying, proved that he's still the top dog, then deferred because he doesn't care about gold in non-Olympic years when the only people who watch wrestling also post on message boards. We'll see whether he cares when it's actually the Olympics.

Hey that’s not true! We also bitch a lot on twitter.

[JimmyCinnabon]

5 hours ago, 1032004 said:

 

Gable wrestling in a non-Olympic year WTT got them headlines?   Who besides (real) wrestling fans even knew he was in it?

What exactly are they looking for as far as "progressing"?   Charisma?  I think most people could've told you before he signed with WWE that he didn't really have charisma, which most people don't but it's not usually something that is learned.  I have a hard time believing he's having much trouble with the athletic aspects of the WWE but I guess it's possible.

When I've read some of the social media posts following his appearances, not sure if WWE cares (or maybe they like it if they want him to be a heel or whatever), but there certainly seems to be a large contingent of WWE fans that don't like him because of his previous criminal allegations.   I would've thought AJ Ferrari would be a natural for WWE (and a rivalry between him and Gable could've been cool), but I assume fans will make the same comments about him as well.  

 

 

I don't think he will ever have a problem athletically however from what I understand about the business is that it's more than athleticism when it comes down to it. There are a few things that really hold guys back.

1. Being careless in the ring. If you aren't safe to work with you're not going to make it. 

2. Not selling moves. If you aren't willing to sell things or you simply aren't good at the acting bit of it you won't make it.

3. Not willing to put guys over. It doesn't matter what real credentials you have in real competitive sports, those mean nothing in the business. You put guys over or you aren't going to be working. An ego coming from actual wrestling can certainly be hard to get over when it comes to putting guys over.

Plenty of guys have made it in the business with poor mic skills, which can be worked on but the three things I mentioned, as far as I have been able to tell, are huge deals and if Gable falls into just one of those categories then they may be not very happy with him.

Edited November 15, 2023 by JimmyCinnabon

[lu1979]

35 minutes ago, JimmyCinnabon said:

 

I don't think he will ever have a problem athletically however from what I understand about the business is that it's more than athleticism when it comes down to it. There are a few things that really hold guys back.

1. Being careless in the ring. If you aren't safe to work with you're not going to make it. 

2. Not selling moves. If you aren't willing to sell things or you simply aren't good at the acting bit of it you won't make it.

3. Not willing to put guys over. It doesn't matter what real credentials you have in real competitive sports, those mean nothing in the business. You put guys over or you aren't going to be working. An ego coming from actual wrestling can certainly be hard to get over when it comes to putting guys over.

Plenty of guys have made it in the business with poor mic skills, which can be worked on but the three things I mentioned, as far as I have been able to tell, are huge deals and if Gable falls into just one of those categories then they may be not very happy with him.

What exactly do you mean by put guys over - sorry I know very little about WWE

[JimmyCinnabon]

12 minutes ago, lu1979 said:

What exactly do you mean by put guys over - sorry I know very little about WWE

It means they're willing to lose in what they consider a legit fashion (getting pinned or submitted). Disqualifications and count outs wouldn't count as putting someone over. I have no idea if this is the case, but I imagine that someone who is an Olympic gold medalist might not be Ok with putting someone over (allowing them to pin them) even in the WWE. Most young guys don't have a choice here. They're brand new so they have to be willing to lose because they have no cred which means it doesn't really mean much when someone beats them. Gable is different because he's an Olympic gold medalist so him losing would be putting someone over in a bigger way. The more successful and over you are in the business the more pushback you can give on whether you'll put a guy over or not. 

Edited November 15, 2023 by JimmyCinnabon

[TNwrestling]

2 hours ago, JimmyCinnabon said:

It means they're willing to lose in what they consider a legit fashion (getting pinned or submitted). Disqualifications and count outs wouldn't count as putting someone over. I have no idea if this is the case, but I imagine that someone who is an Olympic gold medalist might not be Ok with putting someone over (allowing them to pin them) even in the WWE. Most young guys don't have a choice here. They're brand new so they have to be willing to lose because they have no cred which means it doesn't really mean much when someone beats them. Gable is different because he's an Olympic gold medalist so him losing would be putting someone over in a bigger way. The more successful and over you are in the business the more pushback you can give on whether you'll put a guy over or not. 

Putting guys over means making them look strong. You're helping them "get over" with the crowd. You don't have to lose to put someone over. You can win and still make them look strong. I doubt that's the issue.

 

 From what I've seen of him in the ring (the few times he's been in) he isn't unsafe either. Maybe splitting his time between the OTC and WWE developmental caught up with him and he fell back training wise. However, two years is a long time to train at their training center and not progress. 

 

It also could be the fact he has the sexual assault allegations, although there are plenty of people who still work there who have done worse. Their chairman, for instance, Vince McMahon. So I doubt that's the reason either.

 

I really, truly believe that he has 0 charisma and that's the issue. You say you can teach someone to talk on a mic, but either you're capable of talking or not. Either you're awkward or you're not. I've seen plenty of guys on the indie circuit be advertised as the next big thing but when put on the spot, with a mic, they crack. 

[PSULou64]

Ok, forgive me because of my lack of knowledge about professional wrestling but I have a question.  If they feel that he doesn't have charisma can't they change his brand?  What I mean is maybe the all American hero, wrestling champion thing doesn't work for him at that level?  Maybe he pulls off a "villain" role better?  Do they still do guys in masks like Mankind or Kane?  It just feels like they/he are trying to use the wrestling he's really good at to boost and prop up the wrestling that maybe he isn't so good at? I think that's rubbing some people the wrong way a bit.