In April 2024, Gable Steveson was reported to be among a group of talent released by WWE. Now, the Olympic gold medalist has opened up about why his run with the company came to an end.
Speaking during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Steveson made it clear there is no animosity toward WWE or its leadership, instead pointing to his own competitive mindset as the deciding factor.
“Honestly, I had a great experience. I have nothing wrong with anybody there. TKO was great. Triple H, Paul Levesque, was great. Stephanie, Vince—everybody was great.
I just had a competitive drive that I needed to get out. And when you have that gap, you can’t do both. I was trying to bridge both, and I wasn’t giving my 100% to the business. And if I’m not going to give 100% to the business, then you might as well X me out because it’s already over with. So that’s practically how it happened.”
Steveson, who signed with WWE in 2021 following his gold medal win at the Tokyo Olympics, was viewed as a major long-term prospect. However, his focus on returning to high-level athletic competition ultimately made it difficult to fully commit to professional wrestling.
Despite the split, Steveson emphasized that the door is not closed on a future WWE return.
“I would love to go back in the future. I would love to do a sport and go out there and dominate, I would love to go back. And if it meant well, I would do it again most definitely, because I have no hard feelings toward them.”
For now, Steveson remains focused on pursuing competitive athletics, but his comments suggest that a second chapter in WWE is very much a possibility if the timing and circumstances align.
