On May 3rd, a total of 10 names were released from WWE and that list was confirmed to POST Wrestling. The likes of Drew Gulak, Vlad Pavlenko, Valentina Feroz, Trey Bearhil, Julian Baldi, Emma Diaz, Darrell Mason, Keyshawn LeFlore, Ezekiel Balogun and Kiyah Saint were cut.
According to F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer, NCAA Division I champion Gable Steveson was let go from the company as well. Steveson has been signed to WWE for several years and in the earlier portion of 2024, he worked dark matches prior to Friday Night SmackDown.
In April, Steveson appeared on Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson’s podcast and stated that he liked where he was at and was trying to find himself as a pro wrestler.
Steveson’s brother Damon Kemp is currently a member of the NXT roster as a part of the No Quarter Catch Crew stable.
The 23-year-old Steveson was last in action in early February.
Seems like the guy had plenty of time/opportunity to get better and presumably didn’t. WWE’s biggest mistake was anointing him so publicly (and multiple times, at that). It’s like Kurt Angle made them forget Ken Patera, Bad News Brown, Ted Arcidi, Mark Henry, Ronda Rousey… still not easy for a world-class athlete to become a pro wrestler.
I always knew this guy didnt have it. He has never shown a single ounce of any kind of potential. Finally a smart move by WWE getting rid of this waste.
I thought he had some potential but still needed a lot of work. TKO probably looked at his salary and the fact that they weren’t doing anything with him and it was an easy decision.
They weren’t paying him what they were paying him to be in alpha academy. Vince likely saw an angle/lesnar type trajectory in him, and when/if the new team realized it wasn’t happening, they cut him. That’s my guess.
Look, I get that Dave was really high on Gable - so I think you’re allowing that to put his potential into a certain light. However, nothing you’re saying have come through for the years he’s been under contract. He isn’t Kurt, he isn’t Brock.
Not every amateur wrestler, despite their successes, can translate to professional wrestling.
Additionally, Gable (rightfully) carries a ton of baggage. He got away with rape due to legal loopholes. And for a company being accused of being involved with sex trafficking, there is no way they’d want him attached.
Yup you are right. A lot of it is based on the hype people like Dave put on him and I am not aware of the rape stuff until now. Looks bad. Probably explains it
