WWE Originally Planned To Give Gable Steveson a Brock Lesnar-Type Push

WWE reportedly had big plans for Gable Steveson that didn’t pan out. During a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer spoke about Olympic Gold medalist and former WWE talent Gable Steveson, who recently lost his UFC fight at UFC 331, getting knocked out in less than 20 seconds.

According to Meltzer, the initial plan in WWE was to give Steveson a Brock Lesnar-style push right away. Meltzer explained (via WrestlingInc.com), “The original idea for Steveson was to ****ing Brock Lesnar him right away. He was going to be at [WrestleMania] right away, but he just didn’t progress fast enough to where they trusted putting him out there.”

Meltzer continued, “Like they could have gotten him through a match with Chad Gable probably, and a short match and everything like that, but I think that they didn’t trust the spotlight on him. He couldn’t talk, he didn’t have a lot of charisma, and I watched several of his matches with Trevor Lee…Trevor Lee’s such a great worker, right? I remember seeing two of them, and they were, you know, they weren’t good, and I know how good Trevor Lee is.”

Unfortunately for Steveson, he didn’t progress to WWE’s liking compared to his own brother, Bobby Steveson, and also Bron Breakker. Additionally, it’s said that Steveson didn’t even try to improve to the level WWE wanted him to reach, with Meltzer noting that it got to a point with Steveson where WWE could no longer justify the money he was earning, since it was closer to WWE main roster money and not an NXT salary.

Gable Steveson was released by WWE in early 2024.