Gable Steveson, who won an Olympic gold medal for the United States last month, signed a multi-year deal with WWE that allows him to continue competing on the collegiate level until he graduates.
The 21-year-old confirmed the news across social media on Thursday after ESPN reported the deal would allow him to defend his Division I national championship at heavyweight during his senior year at the University of Minnesota.
“Childhood dream accomplished.. I have officially signed with the @WWE!!! Thank you for the opportunity!! LETS WORK,” Steveson shared in a tweet.
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Steveson, a heavyweight champion, won gold during the Tokyo Games. In a surprising twist at this year’s event, Steveson was down three points in the last few seconds of the game before managing to score an additional five points right at the buzzer, giving him the title over Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili.
Steveson will reportedly train with WWE in a remote location close to the university to receive instruction from official WWE coaches and learn the finer points of fighting in a ring. He will also have access to the Performance Center in Florida with his brother Bobby Steveson.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED! ?@GableSteveson grabs the GOLD as time expires. #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/yqMc3wbXsu
— #TokyoParalympics (@NBCOlympics) August 6, 2021
Steveson told ESPN that he also considered a career in the NFL and the UFC. However, he said he grew up on WWE.
“I’ve been on WWE since I was really young,” Steveson said. “I was on guys like Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman for a very long time. So growing up watching them, me being an entertainer on the wrestling mat, it just felt like it was the right choice.”
Nick Khan, the president and chief revenue officer of WWE, said there was an interest in Steveson even before the Olympics.
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“We all saw his physical ability prior to and at the Olympics,” Khan told ESPN. “What we also saw was that Gable has as much charisma as he does ability. Marketability and ability are both of great importance to us. This is just the starting line and nowhere close to the finish line. So our investment is based on how much we think of Gable now and how much bigger we think he can become.”
Steveson will be WWE’s first Olympic gold medalist since Kurt Angle in 1996. Steveson has not lost a global match since August 2019.
