Gable Steveson

Gable Dan Steveson (born May 31, 2000) is an American wrestler. In freestyle wrestling, Steveson was a 2020 Summer Olympic gold medallist, and was also a three-time age-group world champion. In folkstyle wrestling, Steveson was a two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner, a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, and a three-time All-American out of the University of Minnesota.

After a brief appearance at WWE's SummerSlam in August 2021, Steveson was signed by the promotion the following month, becoming the second Olympic gold medalist to be signed by the company after Kurt Angle; however, he was released in May 2024 after only one poorly-received televised match.

He signed with the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League in May 2024, but was released in August before the start of the regular season.

Early life

Steveson was born in Portage, Indiana, where he started wrestling as soon as he could walk, following his two older brother's footsteps. His name Gable Dan was given by his mother after legendary wrestler Dan Gable. He has an older brother, Bobby, who performed in WWE as Damon Kemp until his contract expired in July 2024.

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. At 13 years old, Steveson entered the 2014 MSHSL state finals with a 39–2 record, but ultimately claimed second place, losing the last match of his high school career in eighth grade.

After that season, Steveson racked up four state titles and a 171 match win-streak, with his last two state tournament championship matches lasting a combined 28 seconds. For his 2017 performance, he received the Junior Schalles Award for best high school pinner. The next year, he was named the Junior Hodge Trophy winner. In freestyle, Steveson claimed multiple age-group World Championships. The top-recruit in the country, he chose to remain local and attend the University of Minnesota.

Collegiate and freestyle wrestling career

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. Steveson started his collegiate wrestling freshman season using a redshirt, winning titles at the Daktronics and Bison Open tournaments. Since his redshirt was pulled in November, 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. 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. 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. He then won two more matches to claim third place and All-American status.

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 finalist Adam Coon, two-time NCAA National champion Tony Nelson, two-time All-American Dom Bradley, and two-time All-American Nick Nevills. However, he lost to two-time World Medalist Nick Gwiazdowski twice by criteria and was unable to make the US World Team.

Steveson then made his international senior debut at the Alexander Medved Prizes in August 2019, where he placed second to Khasanboy Rakhimov. 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.

After his suspension was pulled and wrestling back to folkstyle, Steveson compiled 12 wins and no losses in duals during regular season, becoming the top-ranked 285-pounder in the United States. Despite being number one in the rankings, Steveson entered the B1G championships as the second seed. 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. Steveson was then scheduled to compete at the NCAA championships as the top-seed, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the season ended, he was named a first team NCAA Division I All-American due to his performance through the season.

Steveson was slated to compete at the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials in early April 2020. However, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving all the qualifiers unable to compete.

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.

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.

Steveson represented the Gopher WC at 125 kilograms in the FloWrestling: RTC Cup from December 4 to 5, 2020, alongside graduated Gopher Tony Nelson. 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. He then tech'd Jordan Wood to defeat him for the sixth time in freestyle competition and place sixth as a team.

Competing as a junior during the regular season, he compiled a 9–0 record with a 100 percent bonus rate. 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. 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. 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.

The newly crowned NCAA champion and Dan Hodge Trophy winner, Steveson went back to freestyle and competed at the rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials from April 2 to 3 as the second seed, in an attempt to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Steveson made his way to the best-of-three with dominant technical falls over two-time US Junior World Team Member Tanner Hall and Cadet World Champion Greg Kerkvliet, before facing 2019 Pan American Games Gold medalist and top-seed Nick Gwiazdowski. In the first match, he racked up another technical fall over the two-time World Championship medalist and NCAA champion and in the second match he once again shut him down, this time by points, winning the championship bouts. This result qualified Steveson to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. He also warmed up at the Pan American Continental Championships on May 30, dominating all five of his opponents and helping the team sweep all ten freestyle medals.

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 Champion Aiaal Lazarev from Kyrgyzstan, defending Olympic champion and multiple-time World Champion Taha Akgül from Turkey and '19 U23 World medalist Mönkhtöriin Lkhagvagerel from Mongolia. After stunning the field on his way to the finale, he faced three-time and reigning World Champion Geno Petriashvili from Georgia. 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. 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. 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. With this new championship, Steveson became the first American super-heavyweight to win freestyle Olympic gold since Bruce Baumgartner in 1992. 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.

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. On August 15, 2021, Steveson notified USA Wrestling that he would reject the bid in order to pursue other ventures.

In September 2021, it was announced that despite Steveson signing with WWE, he would return to college wrestling under an NIL deal. 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. He was named the Big Ten Athlete of the Year for 2022.

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. In the finale, he defeated previously unbeaten in the season Cohlton Schultz from Arizona State University, six points to two. 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. After the tournament, Steveson was named the most outstanding wrestler.

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. He is the first and only heavyweight wrestler to win the Dan Hodge Trophy multiple times.

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. He was also named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament. He won the 2023 Final X, earning the right to represent the United States at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships. He later decided not to compete in the competition.

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". Prior to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Steveson signed a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) marketing deal with MMA manager Dave Martin. 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.

Steveson then made a brief appearance at WWE's SummerSlam event on August 21, 2021, and then on September 4, it was announced that Steveson had reportedly signed a contract with WWE. Five days later, WWE confirmed they had signed Steveson to an NIL (Next In Line) deal. Steveson was only the second Olympic gold medalist to be signed by the company after Kurt Angle.

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, which became effective October 22, 2021. He made his first appearance in April 2022 at WrestleMania 38 Night 1, being introduced by Stephanie McMahon and, during the second night of the event, he confronted and performed a suplex on Chad Gable. He later appeared on the December 9, 2022, episode of SmackDown for Kurt Angle's birthday celebration. On the June 20, 2023, NXT special, Gold Rush, Steveson appeared in a backstage segment alongside Eddy Thorpe, giving him advice on how to beat Damon Kemp (Steveson's real life older brother). Following this, Steveson was quietly moved to the NXT brand full-time, where he had his first match at NXT The Great American Bash against Baron Corbin. The match ended in a no contest after Corbin and Steveson threw each other over the announcers' desk. The match and its finish received heavy criticism from fans, who booed Steveson while cheering for Corbin, the heel. In September, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Steveson was removed from the NXT roster, leaving his future with the company in question. The following month, Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels mentioned that there had been a scheduling issue and Steveson would be back when it worked for both parties.

Steveson made his return on January 5, 2024, defeating Cedric Alexander in a dark match at SmackDown: New Year's Revolution. However, on May 3, Steveson was among several NXT wrestlers and WWE Performance Center trainees who were released from their contract.

Professional football career

On May 31, 2024, it was reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter that Steveson had signed a three-year deal with the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League and will play defensive line despite never playing football before. His first time putting on a pair of cleats was during his workout for the Bills. On August 27, 2024, he was released by the Bills.

Sexual assault allegations

On June 15, 2019, Steveson and a Minnesota teammate were arrested on suspicion of criminal sexual misconduct, and were subsequently suspended from all team activities. In December, it was determined that they would not face criminal charges due to a lack of adequate evidence. When explaining the decision not to pursue charges, the county attorney also pointed to a lack of a law in Minnesota that would broaden discretion in charging sexual assaults against intoxicated victims.

Freestyle record

Senior Freestyle Matches
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
2023 US World Team Trials at 125 kg
Win	40–6	Mason Parris	5–0	June 10, 2023	2023 Final X Newark	Newark, New Jersey
Win	39–6	Mason Parris	6–2
2023 US Open at 125 kg
Win	38–6	Nick Gwiazdowski	TF 10–0	April 27, 2023	2023 US Open National Championships	New York City, New York
Win	37–6	Mason Parris	TF 11–1
Win	36–6	Wyatt Hendrickson	TF 12–0
Win	35–6	Malcolm Allen	TF 10–0
2020 Summer Olympics at 125 kg
Win	34–6	Geno Petriashvili	10–8	August 5–6, 2021	2020 Summer Olympics	Tokyo, Japan
Win	33–6	Mönkhtöriin Lkhagvagerel	5–0
Win	32–6	Taha Akgül	8–0
Win	31–6	Aiaal Lazarev	TF 10–0
2021 Pan American Championships at 125 kg
Win	30–6	Aly Barghout	TF 10–0	May 30, 2021	2021 Pan American Continental Championships	Guatemala City, Guatemala
Win	29–6	Eduardo Garcia	TF 10–0
Win	28–6	Aly Barghout	TF 10–0
Win	27–6	Santiago Restrepo	TF 10–0
Win	26–6	Christian Chajón	TF 10–0
2020 US Olympic Team Trials at 125 kg
Win	25–6	Nick Gwiazdowski	10–4	April 2–3, 2021	2020 US Olympic Team Trials	Fort Worth, Texas
Win	24–6	Nick Gwiazdowski	TF 10–0
Win	23–6	Greg Kerkvliet	TF 11–0
Win	22–6	Tanner Hall	TF 11–0
FloWrestling RTC Cup 6th at 125 kg
Win	21–6	Jordan Wood	TF 10–0	December 4–5, 2020	FloWrestling RTC Cup	Austin, Texas
Win	20–6	Nick Gwiazdowski	4–1
Win	19–6	Trent Hillger	TF 11–0	September 17, 2020	2020 Beat The Streets	New York City, New York
2019 Bill Farrell Memorial at 125 kg
Win	18–6	Dom Bradley	4–1	November 15–16, 2019	2019 Bill Farrell Memorial International	New York City, New York
Win	17–6	Youssif Hemida	7–3
Win	16–6	AJ Nevills	TF 10–0
Win	15–6	Jeremy Benton	TF 11–0
2019 Medved International at 125 kg
Loss	14–6	Khasanboy Rakhimov	TF 0–12	August 9–11, 2019	2019 Alexander Medved Prizes Ranking Series	Minsk, Belarus
Win	14–5	Jordan Wood	TF 10–0
Win	13–5	Aleksander Kosenkov	TF 10–0
2019 US World Team Trials at 125 kg
Loss	12–5	Nick Gwiazdowski	3–3	June 7–8, 2019	2019 Final X: Rutgers	New Brunswick, New Jersey
Loss	12–4	Nick Gwiazdowski	4–4
Win	12–3	Adam Coon	8–1	May 17–19, 2019	2019 US World Team Trials Challenge Tournament	Raleigh, North Carolina
Win	11–3	Adam Coon	TF 13–3
Win	10–3	Tony Nelson	5–1
Win	9–3	Dom Bradley	7–3
Win	8–3	Nick Nevills	TF 10–0
2018 US World Team Trials 4th at 125 kg
Loss	7–3	Tony Nelson	4–4	May 18–20, 2018	2018 US World Team Trials Challenge	Rochester, Minnesota
Win	7–2	Dom Bradley	5–4
Win	6–2	Tanner Hall	TF 15–2
2018 US Open 4th at 125 kg
Loss	5–2	Dom Bradley	2–2	April 24–28, 2018	2018 US Open Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	5–1	Tanner Hall	TF 11–0
Win	4–1	Mike Kosoy	9–0
Win	3–1	Zachery Roseberry	TF 11–0
Loss	2–1	Adam Coon	TF 0–11
Win	2–0	Shawn Streck	TF 14–0
Win	1–0	Dominic Balmer	TF 10–0

NCAA record

NCAA Division I Matches
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event
Start of 2021–2022 Season (senior year)
End of 2020–2021 Season (junior year)
2021 NCAA Championships at 285 lbs
Win	67–2	Mason Parris	8–4	March 18–20, 2021	2021 NCAA Division I National Championships
Win	66–2	Tony Cassioppi	MD 16–6
Win	65–2	Greg Kerkvliet	9–4
Win	64–2	Wyatt Hendrickson	TF 17–2
Win	63–2	Taye Ghadiali	Fall
2021 Big Ten Conference at 285 lbs
Win	62–2	Mason Parris	MD 12–4	March 6–7, 2021	2021 Big Ten Conference Championships
Win	61–2	Christian Lance	INJ
Win	60–2	Tate Orndorff	TF 19–4
Win	59–2	Jack Heyob	TF 16–1	February 21, 2021	Northwestern - Minnesota Dual
Win	58–2	Peter Christensen	Fall	February 12, 2021	Minnesota - Wisconsin Dual
Win	57–2	Luke Luffman	Fall	February 5, 2021	Illinois - Minnesota Dual
Win	56–2	Boone McDermott	TF 17–2	January 31, 2021	Minnesota - Rutgers Dual
Win	55–2	Jamarcus Grant	TF 24–8		Minnesota - Purdue Dual
Win	54–2	Tony Cassioppi	MD 14–6	January 22, 2021	Iowa - Minnesota Dual
Win	53–2	Brad Wilton	TF 23–8	January 16, 2021	Minnesota - Michigan State Dual
Win	52–2	Connor Bowes	Fall		Maryland - Minnesota Dual
Win	51–2	Christian Lance	TF 23–8	January 8, 2021	Minnesota - Nebraska Dual
Start of 2020–2021 Season (junior year)
End of 2019–2020 Season (sophomore year)
2020 Big Ten Championships at 285 lbs
Win	50–2	Mason Parris	8–6	March 7–8, 2020	2020 Big Ten Conference Championships
Win	49–2	Tony Cassioppi	9–4
Win	48–2	Alex Esposito	Fall
Win	47–2	Christian Lance	MD 19–7	February 21, 2020	Nebraska - Minnesota Dual
Win	46–2	Tony Cassioppi	7–5	February 15, 2020	Minnesota - Iowa Dual
Win	45–2	Seth Nevills	MD 13–5	February 9, 2020	Penn State - Minnesota Dual
Win	44–2	Brandon Streck	Fall	February 2, 2020	Minnesota - Indiana Dual
Win	43–2	Thomas Penola	TF 25–10	January 31, 2020	Minnesota - Purdue Dual
Win	42–2	Gary Traub	MD 13–2	January 26, 2020	Ohio State - Minnesota Dual
Win	41–2	Trent Hillger	10–5	January 10, 2020	Wisconsin - Minnesota Dual
Win	40–2	Brendan Furman	MD 12–3	December 30, 2019	Minnesota - Cornell Dual
Win	39–2	Jonah Niesenbaum	Fall		Duke - Minnesota Dual
Win	38–2	Will Hilliard	Fall	December 29, 2019	Old Dominion - Minnesota Dual
Win	37–2	Jordan Wood	MD 8–0		Lehigh - Minnesota Dual
Win	36–2	Blake Wolters	MD 21–8	December 20, 2019	Minnesota - South Dakota State Dual
Start of 2019–2020 Season (sophomore year)
End of 2018–2019 Season (freshman year)
2019 NCAA Championships at 285 lbs
Win	35–2	Jordan Wood	4–0	March 21–23, 2019	2019 NCAA Division I National Championships
Win	34–2	Youssif Hemida	6–2
Loss	33–2	Anthony Cassar	3–4
Win	33–1	Amar Dhesi	MD 11–1
Win	32–1	Brian Andrews	MD 21–8
Win	31–1	Zack Parker	TF 18–3
2019 Big Ten Championships at 285 lbs
Loss	30–1	Anthony Cassar	3–4	March 9–10, 2019	2019 Big Ten Conference Championships
Win	30–0	Trent Hillger	10–4
Win	29–0	Sam Stoll	5–3
Win	28–0	Christian Colucci	TF 21–6
Win	27–0	Fletcher Miller	TF 20–5	February 17, 2019	Indiana - Minnesota Dual
Win	26–0	Youssif Hemida	7–4	February 10, 2019	Maryland - Minnesota Dual
Win	25–0	David Jensen	MD 13–5	February 8, 2019	Minnesota - Nebraska Dual
Win	24–0	Jacob Aven	MD 16–6	February 3, 2019	Purdue - Minnesota Dual
Win	23–0	Trent Hillger	MD 11–2	January 25, 2019	Minnesota - Wisconsin Dual
Win	22–0	Conan Jennings	9–5	January 20, 2019	Minnesota - Northwestern Dual
Win	21–0	Deuce Rachal	Fall	January 18, 2019	Minnesota - Illinois Dual
Win	20–0	Connor Corbin	MD 12–3	January 13, 2019	Iowa - Minnesota Dual
Win	19–0	Christian Colucci	TF 17–2	January 6, 2019	Rutgers - Minnesota Dual
Win	18–0	FF	FF	December 30, 2018	Utah Valley - Minnesota Dual
Win	17–0	Spencer Berthold	Fall		Kent State - Minnesota Dual
Win	16–0	Cory Gillilland-Daniel	Fall	December 29, 2018	Minnesota - North Carolina Dual
Win	15–0	Jordan Wood	9–4		Lehigh - Minnesota Dual
Win	14–0	FF	FF	December 8, 2018	Minnesota - Fresno State Dual
2018 Cliff Keen Invitational at 285 lbs
Win	13–0	Tate Orndorff	MD 12–4	November 30 - December 1, 2018	2018 Cliff Keen Invitational
Win	12–0	Cory Daniel	9–3
Win	11–0	AJ Nevills	MD 15–6
Win	10–0	John Borst	TF 18–3
Win	9–0	Luke Ready	Fall
Win	8–0	Blake Wolters	TF 18–3	November 25, 2018	South Dakota State - Minnesota Dual
Win	7–0	Derek White	8–2	November 18, 2018	Oklahoma State - Minnesota Dual
2018 Bison Open at 285 lbs
Win	6–0	Tanner Hall	SV–1 3–1	November 10, 2018	2018 Bison Open
Win	5–0	Daniel Stibral	11–6
Win	4–0	Samuel Erckenbrack	TF 20–5
2018 Daktronics Open at 285 lbs
Win	3–0	Rylee Streifel	8–4	November 4, 2018	2018 Daktronics Open
Win	2–0	Christian Lance	12–6
Win	1–0	Austin Emmerson	MD 15–6
Start of 2018-2019 Season (freshman year)

Stats

Season	Year	School	Rank	Record	Weight Class	Bonus Wins
2022	Senior	University of Minnesota	#1 (1st)	17–0	100.00%	82.4%
2021	Junior		#1 (1st)	17–0	100.00%	87.5%
2020	Sophomore		#1	15–0	100.00%	73.33%
2019	Freshman		#3 (3rd)	35–2	94.59%	55.26%
Career				85-2	96.88%	72.03%