Gable, first off, man, I wanna start by congratulating you on your
Olympic gold medal representing the United States of America.
That is an epic accomplishment in and of itself.
So congrats on that, but
also congratulations on being one of the newest draft picks of Monday Night Raw.
You've been a fan of WWE for many, many years.
You've represented yourself well in Collegiate Athletics and around the world.
But now, you've got a new chance to really bring Gable Steve's into the forefront of
the world.
What's going on in your head, man?
>> I appreciate all the warm welcome first.
But what's going through my head just, this is another day.
We live for days, a lot of things are going on.
And we live for days that there is a lot of people, the fans and the crowd.
And just to have that over access to everything.
Especially with a bigger platform like WWE, I can be myself and
bring that Olympic gold medal style and the collegiate style to a bigger stage.
So I'm just excited.
I'm ready to go and I'm ready to hammer things out and
just just be the best I can.
>> You're even breaking some barriers, man.
You've set some new trends because you're still in college.
That's the craziest thing to me is that 21 years old,
going to college still while being a WWE superstar.
You're the first superstar to my knowledge that has an NIL deal.
I think that's what it's called.
>> Yes, it is.
>> NIL Graves, is that right?
>> Yeah, I think so.
>> And it's like, wow, what a whirlwind of a summer for you.
And also kudos to staying in school and finishing your degree.
>> I appreciate it, that was the main thing, to be honest.
I wanted to have that piece of paper and
say that I finished out school instead of going three years and just leaving and
going to the left side of the entertainment business.
So I wanted to go back and I wanted the rest of the collegiate season again.
And like you said,
the barrier being broken is like people from both sides have to watch.
People from the NCAA have to watch the WWE and then people from the WWE have to
watch NCAA Wrestling if they're fans and me and want to tune in.
So it's gonna be a crazy show and our first rule is gonna be sold out crazy,
people gonna love it.
And wherever Gable is, that show is always there.
>> I can't wait to check this out.
It is incredibly unique.
I was just doing a little research with our producers beforehand.
Yeah, a very unique deal for WWE standards, which I think is much earned.
It's very exciting for everybody involved.
I wanna start back at the beginning though.
How did Gables Steveson get to this point?
Obviously, you've been a wrestler your entire life.
You've got a drive that is second to none.
What about WWE drew you in?
>> I've loved it for a long time just growing up watching it.
I mean, I'm at currently at the same school that Brock Lesnar went to so
it's kind of like a plus two.
And he's the reason why I want to go to Minnesota and have that path.
And so I've always wanted to be a superstar in that realm and
go on acting and going to movies and bigger things like that.
So it was always my main goal to be like that.
Back then day I'm just since I was young,
just being able to watch Monday Nights and there's the SmackDown, too.
And so it's a just gets lost for words kind of,
it's kind of crazy in the situation that a lot of kids would love to be in.
And so just putting piece by piece together one at a time is what I'm doing.
>> It's been well documented throughout the sports world that you
were very highly touted free agent while you had WWE making a play for it.
I've heard rumors that UFC was interested in Gable Steveson.
I'm sure there are a litany of other offers that come with being an Olympic
gold medalist.
What about the WWE World intrigued you the most?
>> Just realistically, they allowed me to go back to school.
I mean, if I would have signed with UFC or
tried to do NFL everything I would have to leave.
Now had to leave like an open book with the University of Minnesota that I
couldn't finish.
And so I wanted to go back and win the national tournament again.
I want to go back and wrestle in front of our fans because last year,
we couldn't because the COVID rules.
And the year before that, I got canceled, too.
So I want to go back and have that one more last run with everybody seeing me and
the WWE helped me like have the NIL.
So I can be with them hype onstage appearances but
also I'm wrestling a college season.
I'm a regular college student at the end of day, too.
>> I got to ask, obviously, you get the comparisons all the time,
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, Olympic gold medalist.
You got some pretty big shoes to fill in that respect.
How are you handling these comparisons?
>> It's fine.
I mean, I don't mind the pressure.
People compare me to Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar and stuff like that.
It's actually really cool.
I mean, Kurt Angle's a legend.
Brock's, they're both gonna be Hall of Famers at the end of day.
So to be compared to those guys is something crazy.
But, I mean, it's good and bad.
Kurt won a gold medal and I won a gold medal but, the difference is,
he had a broken neck and I won it in the last one second.
And it's like my gold metal don't exist because, if I don't got a broken neck,
it's gone.
>> [LAUGH] Well so [CROSSTALK] >> And
I get to tell him that everyday, everyday I get to tell him.
>> Now are you using that as fuel is that it,
put a little bit of a chip on your shoulder?
>> Yeah, cuz I want to, most definitely, the chip is always going to be there.
Just because people are surrounding that, that pressure
that I liked around me that to be that superstar and live up to that hype.
And so to have that Kurt Angle hype is really good.
I mean, it drives me to be better than he is.
And if I don't reach that point, I know I tried and do my best.
So but at the end of the day, my goal is to be the best person a Gable,
not Kurt Angle, not Brock Lesnar.
And even what they're supporting, what there looks like,
I still want to be the person that I want to be.
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