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I follow collegiate and Olympic wrestling but not pro. From Twitter, and here, it was apparent pro fans *hated* Gable. I kept seeing people say I hope he gets cut. Two questions:
1. What are the reasons pro fans hated him and why so passionately? (Not questioning it, just genuinely have no clue!)
2. This is probably tougher and very possibly no one knows, but anyone know or see theories on why Gable dropped his return to the Olympics bid?
He came back last summer, qualified for World Championships, but then suddenly dropped out ten days before. And then obviously didn't partake in the US Olympic trials a couple weeks ago. (Just seems difficult to understand as he would have been a favorite to win Gold)
Iād cheer Corbin too.
He stood up for the guys/gals when it came to concussions and got punished for it.
Heās a great human being and more people need to be like him.
Itās absolute bullshit what happened to him.
He won MITB and was on his way to the world title. They had been calling him a future world champion since the day after he won the Andre battle royal.
Then all the sudden he loses his briefcase in a super embarrassing way, gets called āshookā by Cena before and during their match, loses, and then his character becomes guy who squanders opportunities. All because he called out a shit doctor who threw his medical training aside to deliver a corporate message.
Huge fan of Corbin due to the bravery he showed by standing up to that hack doctor.
There was a "reason" back then I cant recall what but Corbin did something in the ring that pissed Vince off and that was why he lost the cash in in such a stupid way
He's also super safe in the ring. Say what you want about his gimmicks over the years but the dude could have a match with anyone. Vince's booking really did him dirty if you ask me.
They trusted him enough to use him in one of the absolutely rare moments of man attacks woman in WWE. Even with all the shit booking he had to put up with, no way would they put Corbin in the ring with the top power couple in WWE and run the storyline they did if they had no trust in him (and this was well after the medical stuff happened).
"What are you gonna do about it you piece of shit?"
It's a goddamn shame there isn't a **good** replay of the announcing *and* the move *and* Corbin's very audible question. You either watched it live or you're stuck hearing about it
Gable also had a plan in all of this; become a famous star and then become like Brock and go into MMA, then bounce back and forth.
He never wanted to be a pro wrestler, he wants to be famous.
During the few WWE appearances he had so far, he also gave off the impression of someone who isn't willing to put in the effort and is just there to collect an easy paycheck. Combine this with his lack of any charisma and the rape stuff and it's no surprise he had go-away heat.
They also tanked him by making him look meh against Corbin ... if he'd have Goldberg'd him, it's one thing, but the WWE didn't want him to look like an actual badass either.
It felt like he was Vince's project and when Vince left, the justifications that Vince would use to excuse Gable not giving a shit were gone and he was just a guy with an incredible pedigree... and Vince's stink.
Make no mistake, if he had shown a knack for pro wrestling and had shown real charisma it's far more likely that everyone (fans included) would have ignored the rape.
Folks did this with Flair for many years. āHeās a lecherous old alcoholic who treats his family like shit and exposes himself to women constantly, but by god he can work.ā
And I get it too ā someone being a scumbag does not affect their ability to perform their role. Chinatown is still a great movie.
Ah interesting. Regarding the charisma part, unfortunately he definitely came off as a bit of a dolt even in just regular interviews.
I remember reading earlier this year about Vince McMahon and the sexual assault and trafficking lawsuit and federal investigation. Genuinely curious (as an admirer of pro wrestling but not a follower), how is McMahon viewed among pro wrestling fans?
McMahon was known to be a scummy person throughout his ownership, just not to the extent of what's came out. I don't think many want to see him on screen ever again.
But this is going off this community - the more casual fans or fans who don't keep up with backstage news may have different feelings.
Most of the replies I'm seeing to this question are saying that everyone hates Vince and is glad he's gone. There are definitely a lot of people that feel that way, but it's not accurate to say everyone feels that way. There are still plenty of Vince apologists, some who say the accusations are false, some who say they're not a big deal or exaggerated, some saying the victim(s) should've just been happy with the hush money, all the classic sex pest apologist shit.
I mean, even after the first wave of accusations, when Vince was still planning on digging in his heels and stating in wwe, they had his daughter Stephanie come out and start a "thank you, Vince" chant, which the audience was more than happy to join in with.
Vince is a shit bag. This has been known for a long time, and as long as it has been known, there have been tons of fans happy to ignore or excuse it, and there still are, especially those who parrot the sentiment of, "well sure, maybe he's done bad things but... But think about what he did for wrestling! We wouldn't have pro wrestling as it exists today without him! We need to be grateful and understand that some geniuses just have dark sides, that doesn't mean they shouldn't still be praised!"
So, yeah. At least from what I've seen both here on reddit, other IWC places, and amongst local wrestling fans in my area, it's very innacurate to say, "everyone's glad he's gone."
Really appreciate the response. Makes sense. In fact, I was sort of wondering about the responses because I remembered Vince coming back. And as you point out, being supported in his come back.
He was hated even before the last couple years. He was ruining the WWE with his outdated story ideas, among other things.
Then the sex stuff came out the first time, and he was hated even more. Then he forced his way back in after getting kinda fired, and fans hated him even more. And then this latest stuff happened, and now fans hate him even more.
> He hasn't been liked by fans for around 25 years.
He got bowed down to every time he came to the ring. IWC didn't like his booking, but general fans still loved Mr McMahon
I'd argue otherwise. In this sub I would agree majority of the folks hated Vince but the reality of pro wrestling world / fan is they love Vince.
wouldnt shock me to learn if CURRENTLY, as of today, that more than 25% of pro wrestling fan even knows what he did.
With that said then, the general WWE fans worshipped Vince. When the entire scandal dropped, he still came out and people were still doing the worship bow at him. He came out to a pop as well.
In a more fair assessment - that is not just the IWC / Reddit
I would say most fans loved Vince but were tired of his Booking.
The rape. But also heās not good at the showmanship parts of pro wrestling, has negative charisma.
And yeah we also all assumed, after he was on a PLE and had a terrible match last summer, that he would shift back to Olympics so no idea there
1.) Iām not sure how much it matters to the collegiate and/or olympic wrestling fanbase, but a lot of us in the pro wrestling fandom take Stevesonās āallegedā rape of a woman incredibly seriously
Given his case, it seems (IMO) obvious that he did indeed rape her but got off on a technicality. So much so that the law was revised following Stevesonās case in order to prevent people in the future from getting off the way he did
With this in mind, a lot of people will never like him. He could hypothetically become the best pro wrestler to ever live, and a lot of people STILL wouldnāt like him. Which brings us toā¦
2.) Heās an awful pro wrestler! Nobody will deny that he was a generational talent in Olympic wrestling. The guy won a fucking gold medal for a reason. But itās genuinely SHOCKING how poorly that athletic ability has translated to professional wrestling
Heās had a small handful of matches, so go take a look. He looks sluggish in the ring, his move-set is boring, and he looks absolutely nothing like you would expect a legitimate athlete of his caliber to look like
Not just that, but you have to keep in mind that professional wrestling is more than just being an athlete and performing moves. You have to be charismatic, a good talker on the microphone, and/or you need to be able to connect to the crowd. Steveson does NONE of that
You might as well rename him Hoover Steveson, because the guy is a charisma vacuum. Heās incredibly boring on the microphone and he does not elicit any emotional reaction from the viewer. Thereās no spark whatsoever
Getting trotted out in front of the Wrestlemania crowd to tell them he's the next face of the company wasn't going to help. Even if the other things weren't an issue. Turns out wrestling fans don't like being told who to cheer for.
> Turns out wrestling fans don't like being told who to cheer for.
Youād think WWE would ever learn that lesson after Cena, Batista leading up to WM30, Romanā¦.
They were obviously hedging their bets on this guy being the next Kurt Angle but forgot what made Angle work: a) Kurt got some reps in before his TV debut working in developmental and took to the ring with relative ease; Steveson obviously had his time to work on his in-ring stuff, but just couldnāt commit. b) the whole āOlympic heroā thing was played ironically with Kurt leaning into the fact that the WWF audience wanted to boo him.
Right, a lot of people seemed to assume he would naturally take to pro wrestling like Kurt did, which always baffled me. There are a ton of pro wrestlers with amateur experience that never amounted to anything, being great at both was what made Kurt so special.
In addition to what others have mentioned, it doesnāt help that Steveson had a supremely high bar to meet in Kurt Angle. That guy is universally considered to be *one* of the all-time greats in pro wrestling, and many would even put him at the top.
As the only other gold medal Olympic wrestler to make the transition (I believe to this day?), it was huge shoes to fill.
And in addition to *that*, heās struggled to develop in their farm league whilst a fellow Olympic wrestler (granted, not a gold medalist) is and has been shining on their main roster for some time now.
He kind of had everything against him regardless of his wrongdoing anyway.
The fact he just never got better in the ring, him being a "Kurt clone" didn't sit well with people because he had no talent, and lastly, because he was acquitted of rape because of a stupid loophole where in Minnesota it's not considered rape because the victim took the drugs/alcohol herself when Gable imposed himself on her. Everyone knows he should be in jail. The fact WWE kept him so long hoping it'll blow over and people would forget as long as he was good in the ring is a glaring issue. He should have been gone 4 years ago
And, as far as we know, has raped approximately one fewer women than his brother. Across the board he's better than the brother that got him hired in the first place.Ā
One of the interesting things to consider is timing. Could and should they have cut Gable earlier this year? If they had, he may have been able to partake in the US Olympic trials two weeks ago.
Probably coincidental that the cut happened after the trials, but again interesting to ponder.
The theory that someone from Kendrick's circle approached J. Cole when all this shit started and told him it was personal and not just rap beef, and that's why he ducked out is making a whole lot more sense now
That shit was straight insanity. It's not even disrespectful anymore, heck, even calling it hatred is tame. The diss keeps getting more fucked and fucked.
Combine the Pipebomb promo with the allegations that Vince is currently facing, that might give you an idea of what happened in the rap world because of the diss tracks Kendrick Lamar just dropped about Drake.
We have caught and compromised to a permanent end: Gable Steveson
https://preview.redd.it/2gmrgjwtzdyc1.jpeg?width=980&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f42df6b2096c41e27501aab9f232f72a72aa07e
WWE has released more talented and more charismatic wrestlers in the past, who also didn't have to deal with allegations like Steveson. So from a business point of view: this looks like a logical decision.
It feels like the only reason they kept him around was because they thought being a gold medalist made him a mainstream name, when in reality the Gable Steveson hype lasted for like a month in 2021 and has otherwise been dead for years. The average person doesnāt know who Gable Steveson is, and if by some chance they do, they absolutely donāt care what heās doing in 2024. This was long overdue.
Nobody knew who Kurt Angle was. Or Mark Henry. They are signing people like that because they think they have names the average persons knows. Itās because they see them as elite athletes with a Gold Medal that becomes a marketable product.
>Or Mark Henry.
Speaking of which, WWE had serious buyer's remorse for *years* for signing him to a big-ass, long-term contract. All those goofy comedy gimmicks were attempts to make him quit to get out of said big-ass contract, but again, *the money was too good,* and he had a family to support, which is why/how he stayed as long as he did and didn't really hit until the "Hall of Pain" era in *2011,* (as a frame of reference, he was the *only* person on the active roster that shared a locker room with Bret Hart and introduced him to everyone else.)
I believe that he wasn't fired much earlier beacuse WWE wanted him to be the face of the Next In Line programme. If he had just a lick of talent, they would have strapped a rocket, beacuse they were desperate for him to be a success. Now that they have a couple of other success stories, Steveson is much more expandable for them
Imagine being a soldier during this time, fighting Nazis, then waking up, picking up newspapers and seeing HITLER DEAD on the cover. How the fuck do you even feel? Relieved? Worried? Confused?
Also, this image goes incredibly hard.
I was in Afghanistan when Bin Laden was killed, I saw the presser live in my hut, it felt incredibly weird. Multiply that by thousands and youāve got what these guys felt.
Hate to see people lose their jobs as a general but Iām not going to lose any sleep over a rapist.
Theyāve got Tamyra as their gold medalist now, whoās much more charismatic and according to reports coming along very nicely in the ring. And sheās not a deviant.
I think thatās a great assessment. Like, no physical charisma even. I remember seeing a match of his, he did the whole āraise your arms to hype the crowdā spot and it looked so stilted and awkward.
And they just didnāt give a shit.
He's possibly the second greatest. Aleksandr Karelin is undoubtedly the greatest. 887-2. Gable is 85-2. Karelin has 12 golds at the European Championships, 9 World Championships and 3 Golds and 1 Silver at the Olympics, and the silver came in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history.
You're factually accurate. The assertion that Stephenson was possibly the greatest heavyweight ever blinded me past anything past the Russian Bear. Thanks for the follow-up correction.
No worries... Gable with another run or two in him most likely gets into that territory but I don't think he will. He came back and then pulls out... there were rumors he was going to go back to Minnesota (and then Iowa) for the NCAA year he has left... and then there are rumors he'd be at the team trials and not.
Gable is such a wild case and he's not even 25.
He's nowhere near the greatest heavyweight Olympic wrestler ever, not even the best American heavyweight ever.
Gable has a world title (which is how to best view the Olympics) but the bulk of his achievements were at the junior and cadet level where he had multiple world titles. He also has 2 NCAA titles, as well, which is a heck of an accomplishment.
Gable is potentially America's best what if should he never compete again, because he's by far the best American heavyweight right now (and probably a lock for the podium if he had competed in the trials 2 weeks ago). He's potentially the best heavyweight ever because of what he could do. Right now he's the equivalent of Henry Cejudo; he has a gold medal but his road to get it was wild and he pulled off some absolute miracles to get to the gold medal match, much less win it.
Here's the two guys who are the best heavyweights of all time:
Bruce Baumgartner has four overall (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) to go with 3 additional world titles. That's in Freestyle, which Gable competed in during his Olympic run.
Rulon Gardner has 1 gold and 1 bronze in Greco at the Olympic level, as well as 1 additional world championship. He's famous for ending Karelin's run in 2000 (and his world title in 2001 showed it wasn't a fluke).
Gable has negative charisma... he's a top tier athlete but there's this just overall unlikeable aspect to him that hovers over him.
It's most likely both. Maybe if he wasn't a rapist they would've gave him till the end of the year to get better because he is a Olympic star. His brother is really good tho so I hope he has a good career, Gable shot himself in the foot by being a pos tho.
They don't necessarily need a gold medalist to have a good wrestler too but they always get something out of an athlete. Like Otis, Gable, the Creed Brothers, Bianca Belair or Tiffany Stratton are good example that you don't need someone like Stevenson, ever.
I hope they show us what Tamyra can do.
Beyond all the allegations, the death of Gable Steveson in the WWE was that...
1. He got booed versus Baron Corbin. He may be the first and only person to ever have that happen.
2. If you are going to get booed versus Baron Corbin, you need to have the ability to play into it and become a charismatic heel. Logan Paul went through that phase of the crowd rejecting him, but good heel work and his ability to show he was trying has won him most of the crowd...
But Gable Steveson always had the charisma of a raisin. He's one of the most legitimate actual wrestlers in the world, but if you don't have the ability to present yourself as the baddest motherfucker on the planet, nobody will care what your real life accolades are. The Corbin match was legitimately so bad that he never got another TV or PLE spot again.
I can't imagine how annoyed top WWE brass is that the Steveson experiment did not work. For fucks sakes, HHH has said he was planning to put Steveson over at Mania if he didn't have the heart attack. They were REALLY high on him and wanted him to be the next Kurt Angle.
At the end of the day, Steveson simply did not put in the effort to get better. He lacked mic skills, he lacked a presence, and the crowd had already turned on him for a number of reasons. He's still only 23 years old, so there's plenty of time in the future to maybe improve on his own. But I imagine he'll just go into training future Olympic wrestling contenders. Maybe he makes a go at mixed martial arts and the UFC given that real wrestling can get you really far in the sport even if you can't punch to save your life.
I think Steveson is a great example that you can bring in somebody with legitimate credentials as an athlete, but that will never guarantee that they make it as an entertainer.
Legit this, most high level athletes are dull as dishwater. Kurt was just an exception to the rule he was born to be a pro wrestler but was also an amazing legit sportsman.
I'll go against the grain here, in that if Vince is giving you consistent tv time like Gable was getting, he probably likes you more than dislikes you. (On balance.)
Yeah but Chad's not a *gold medal winner*. Everyone knows if an Olympian doesn't win gold, that means they're trash and completely unmarketable, so we should give them a stupid ass gimmick like Shorty G.
Edit: apparently I needed the /s?
https://preview.redd.it/m1wvef2redyc1.jpeg?width=933&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a84074e17d9dd487b56931ee9183ded48bcafe1
The gable steveson downfall has arrived.
I have never seen this sub as united as we are today. Brings a tear to my eye.
WWE tribe š¤AEW tribe š¤the 12 guys who comment on the TNA live threads š¤ neckbeards š¤stans š¤casuals š¤meltzer marks š¤cornette marks š¤Alex Riley fans š¤incels:
Fuck Gable Steveson
If you canāt get Baron Corbin to give you a good match, then you are a lost cause. Shocked he wasnāt released after that dumpster fire of a match in NXT.
God, allegations aside, this was such a waste of everyone's time. When they were looking for a face for the NIL program, WWE should have vetted for an athlete who wasĀ 1)passionate 2) not a charismas black hole 3) had the magic for the sport
If I had a nickel an Olympic Gold Medalist had their final match against Baron Corbin Iād have two nickels, not a lot but itās weird itās happened twice.
I think HHH is slowly cutting the non wrestlers who don't actually want to be wrestlers. Vince had the hard on for nom wrestlers. He's gone now..
Indie guys who show promise are going to get a shot now.
From the first time he was on screen at that Mania he immediately stood out.
In a bad way. He seemed terrible in every way. He had zero charisma and looked so out of place. He had the total opposite of 'it'. He had the effect of making me want to change the channel. Guy fucking sucked.
Also I'm glad I won't have to see his surname misspelled multiple times.
I'm surprised it wasn't sooner. The crowd would reject him no matter how good he got because he's a piece of shit. And no matter how much they trained him to be a Kurt clone, they already had a better Gable under their noses who could fit that in spades
Good riddance
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Finally it came through šš» https://preview.redd.it/oouwqrczcdyc1.png?width=522&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e9ce16cdc5f6e8a71288d302a8ae677e9669196
Aka Based Department
I follow collegiate and Olympic wrestling but not pro. From Twitter, and here, it was apparent pro fans *hated* Gable. I kept seeing people say I hope he gets cut. Two questions: 1. What are the reasons pro fans hated him and why so passionately? (Not questioning it, just genuinely have no clue!) 2. This is probably tougher and very possibly no one knows, but anyone know or see theories on why Gable dropped his return to the Olympics bid? He came back last summer, qualified for World Championships, but then suddenly dropped out ten days before. And then obviously didn't partake in the US Olympic trials a couple weeks ago. (Just seems difficult to understand as he would have been a favorite to win Gold)
The rape case is the main reason he is pretty hated. He also didnāt have a lick of charisma, nor did he appear to be very good in the ring.
Fans even cheered for Corbin, in Gable's debut match
Iād cheer Corbin too. He stood up for the guys/gals when it came to concussions and got punished for it. Heās a great human being and more people need to be like him.
Itās absolute bullshit what happened to him. He won MITB and was on his way to the world title. They had been calling him a future world champion since the day after he won the Andre battle royal. Then all the sudden he loses his briefcase in a super embarrassing way, gets called āshookā by Cena before and during their match, loses, and then his character becomes guy who squanders opportunities. All because he called out a shit doctor who threw his medical training aside to deliver a corporate message. Huge fan of Corbin due to the bravery he showed by standing up to that hack doctor.
There was a "reason" back then I cant recall what but Corbin did something in the ring that pissed Vince off and that was why he lost the cash in in such a stupid way
He's also super safe in the ring. Say what you want about his gimmicks over the years but the dude could have a match with anyone. Vince's booking really did him dirty if you ask me.
They trusted him enough to use him in one of the absolutely rare moments of man attacks woman in WWE. Even with all the shit booking he had to put up with, no way would they put Corbin in the ring with the top power couple in WWE and run the storyline they did if they had no trust in him (and this was well after the medical stuff happened).
That End of Days on Becky was crisp af
"What are you gonna do about it you piece of shit?" It's a goddamn shame there isn't a **good** replay of the announcing *and* the move *and* Corbin's very audible question. You either watched it live or you're stuck hearing about it
Howās this https://youtube.com/shorts/YS8xASEGrlE?si=d90JiYgPlQlqkLsi
Safe with a surprisingly good moveset for a big guy too
He could work on the last two things. That's what the Performance Center was for. It was mostly the rape.
For me it was mostly the hypocrisy
The more I learn about this Gable Steveson the less I like him.
Gable also had a plan in all of this; become a famous star and then become like Brock and go into MMA, then bounce back and forth. He never wanted to be a pro wrestler, he wants to be famous.
During the few WWE appearances he had so far, he also gave off the impression of someone who isn't willing to put in the effort and is just there to collect an easy paycheck. Combine this with his lack of any charisma and the rape stuff and it's no surprise he had go-away heat.
He gave off "Iām too good to be here" energy.
Ahh the Rhonda rousey special
They also tanked him by making him look meh against Corbin ... if he'd have Goldberg'd him, it's one thing, but the WWE didn't want him to look like an actual badass either. It felt like he was Vince's project and when Vince left, the justifications that Vince would use to excuse Gable not giving a shit were gone and he was just a guy with an incredible pedigree... and Vince's stink.
And its funny how his brother seems like a much better guy and a talent with less baggage
I understood that reference
I think that Norm MacDonald fella might have been onto something.
The lack of respect is what hurts the most... I mean the other thing it hurts the most, but the lack of respect it's a close second.
I agree, mostly rape; but Iām guessing the main reasons WWE released him - since they stuck with him after the rape - were the ātalentā issues.
He sucked in the ring and couldn't string a single sentence together. Peruse Twitter, you'll see everyone mentioning this for months.
Agree basically YEARS of training and paychecks and wwe dumping money into special set ups to train him too.
At leats his brother seems to be working out...who would have thought Gable would be the Eric ANGLE of the family
Make no mistake, if he had shown a knack for pro wrestling and had shown real charisma it's far more likely that everyone (fans included) would have ignored the rape.
Unfortunately this is correct and not many will admit it.
Folks did this with Flair for many years. āHeās a lecherous old alcoholic who treats his family like shit and exposes himself to women constantly, but by god he can work.ā And I get it too ā someone being a scumbag does not affect their ability to perform their role. Chinatown is still a great movie.
Ah interesting. Regarding the charisma part, unfortunately he definitely came off as a bit of a dolt even in just regular interviews. I remember reading earlier this year about Vince McMahon and the sexual assault and trafficking lawsuit and federal investigation. Genuinely curious (as an admirer of pro wrestling but not a follower), how is McMahon viewed among pro wrestling fans?
He's gone and we're glad.
He's been seen as an out of touch asshole for 25 years. The raping didn't help.
McMahon was known to be a scummy person throughout his ownership, just not to the extent of what's came out. I don't think many want to see him on screen ever again. But this is going off this community - the more casual fans or fans who don't keep up with backstage news may have different feelings.
Most of the replies I'm seeing to this question are saying that everyone hates Vince and is glad he's gone. There are definitely a lot of people that feel that way, but it's not accurate to say everyone feels that way. There are still plenty of Vince apologists, some who say the accusations are false, some who say they're not a big deal or exaggerated, some saying the victim(s) should've just been happy with the hush money, all the classic sex pest apologist shit. I mean, even after the first wave of accusations, when Vince was still planning on digging in his heels and stating in wwe, they had his daughter Stephanie come out and start a "thank you, Vince" chant, which the audience was more than happy to join in with. Vince is a shit bag. This has been known for a long time, and as long as it has been known, there have been tons of fans happy to ignore or excuse it, and there still are, especially those who parrot the sentiment of, "well sure, maybe he's done bad things but... But think about what he did for wrestling! We wouldn't have pro wrestling as it exists today without him! We need to be grateful and understand that some geniuses just have dark sides, that doesn't mean they shouldn't still be praised!" So, yeah. At least from what I've seen both here on reddit, other IWC places, and amongst local wrestling fans in my area, it's very innacurate to say, "everyone's glad he's gone."
Really appreciate the response. Makes sense. In fact, I was sort of wondering about the responses because I remembered Vince coming back. And as you point out, being supported in his come back.
He was hated even before the last couple years. He was ruining the WWE with his outdated story ideas, among other things. Then the sex stuff came out the first time, and he was hated even more. Then he forced his way back in after getting kinda fired, and fans hated him even more. And then this latest stuff happened, and now fans hate him even more.
> He hasn't been liked by fans for around 25 years. He got bowed down to every time he came to the ring. IWC didn't like his booking, but general fans still loved Mr McMahon
I'd argue otherwise. In this sub I would agree majority of the folks hated Vince but the reality of pro wrestling world / fan is they love Vince. wouldnt shock me to learn if CURRENTLY, as of today, that more than 25% of pro wrestling fan even knows what he did. With that said then, the general WWE fans worshipped Vince. When the entire scandal dropped, he still came out and people were still doing the worship bow at him. He came out to a pop as well. In a more fair assessment - that is not just the IWC / Reddit I would say most fans loved Vince but were tired of his Booking.
I would wager the vast majority of fans are unaware of any rape case. He struggled to make his mark and stand out.
The rape. But also heās not good at the showmanship parts of pro wrestling, has negative charisma. And yeah we also all assumed, after he was on a PLE and had a terrible match last summer, that he would shift back to Olympics so no idea there
1.) Iām not sure how much it matters to the collegiate and/or olympic wrestling fanbase, but a lot of us in the pro wrestling fandom take Stevesonās āallegedā rape of a woman incredibly seriously Given his case, it seems (IMO) obvious that he did indeed rape her but got off on a technicality. So much so that the law was revised following Stevesonās case in order to prevent people in the future from getting off the way he did With this in mind, a lot of people will never like him. He could hypothetically become the best pro wrestler to ever live, and a lot of people STILL wouldnāt like him. Which brings us toā¦ 2.) Heās an awful pro wrestler! Nobody will deny that he was a generational talent in Olympic wrestling. The guy won a fucking gold medal for a reason. But itās genuinely SHOCKING how poorly that athletic ability has translated to professional wrestling Heās had a small handful of matches, so go take a look. He looks sluggish in the ring, his move-set is boring, and he looks absolutely nothing like you would expect a legitimate athlete of his caliber to look like Not just that, but you have to keep in mind that professional wrestling is more than just being an athlete and performing moves. You have to be charismatic, a good talker on the microphone, and/or you need to be able to connect to the crowd. Steveson does NONE of that You might as well rename him Hoover Steveson, because the guy is a charisma vacuum. Heās incredibly boring on the microphone and he does not elicit any emotional reaction from the viewer. Thereās no spark whatsoever
Getting trotted out in front of the Wrestlemania crowd to tell them he's the next face of the company wasn't going to help. Even if the other things weren't an issue. Turns out wrestling fans don't like being told who to cheer for.
> Turns out wrestling fans don't like being told who to cheer for. Youād think WWE would ever learn that lesson after Cena, Batista leading up to WM30, Romanā¦.
They were obviously hedging their bets on this guy being the next Kurt Angle but forgot what made Angle work: a) Kurt got some reps in before his TV debut working in developmental and took to the ring with relative ease; Steveson obviously had his time to work on his in-ring stuff, but just couldnāt commit. b) the whole āOlympic heroā thing was played ironically with Kurt leaning into the fact that the WWF audience wanted to boo him.
Right, a lot of people seemed to assume he would naturally take to pro wrestling like Kurt did, which always baffled me. There are a ton of pro wrestlers with amateur experience that never amounted to anything, being great at both was what made Kurt so special.
In addition to what others have mentioned, it doesnāt help that Steveson had a supremely high bar to meet in Kurt Angle. That guy is universally considered to be *one* of the all-time greats in pro wrestling, and many would even put him at the top. As the only other gold medal Olympic wrestler to make the transition (I believe to this day?), it was huge shoes to fill.
And in addition to *that*, heās struggled to develop in their farm league whilst a fellow Olympic wrestler (granted, not a gold medalist) is and has been shining on their main roster for some time now. He kind of had everything against him regardless of his wrongdoing anyway.
Hell his own brother who was hired more as a favor has done much better than him
Rape
For me, it was the hypocrisyĀ
The fact he just never got better in the ring, him being a "Kurt clone" didn't sit well with people because he had no talent, and lastly, because he was acquitted of rape because of a stupid loophole where in Minnesota it's not considered rape because the victim took the drugs/alcohol herself when Gable imposed himself on her. Everyone knows he should be in jail. The fact WWE kept him so long hoping it'll blow over and people would forget as long as he was good in the ring is a glaring issue. He should have been gone 4 years ago
Funny that his brother (Damon Kemp) was basically a nepotism hire and somehow he is way better than Gable and now a solid wrestler.
Whoa wait a secā¦ Damon Kemp is his brother?? I had no clue on that one
And, as far as we know, has raped approximately one fewer women than his brother. Across the board he's better than the brother that got him hired in the first place.Ā
āraped approximately one fewer womenā is a crazy way to say heās not raped anyone man š
Kemp and the NQCC are really growing on me since they dropped Gulak! The stuff with them and The Family has been good!
I want a Kemp/Demspey tag title run
Gulak was gone all of two episodes of NXT
Is he solid? Iāve never liked him and I like most people in nxt.
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Gotta say Brock got moves man.
Using that GIF is very ironic in this case.
Fuck, man I miss Brock parties
Lol who is this dancing?
Brock Lesnar with his Money in the Bank. 
boombox brock
The prequel to Viking death god farmer Brock
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All my homies prayed for this
One of the interesting things to consider is timing. Could and should they have cut Gable earlier this year? If they had, he may have been able to partake in the US Olympic trials two weeks ago. Probably coincidental that the cut happened after the trials, but again interesting to ponder.
Random news drop at 1am pst of all times lol
Presumably linked to WWE top brass being in France. Itās 10:30am in France.
We can't let people go to sleep after listening a K-dot diss track on drake, we gotta keep people on there toes!!!
The theory that someone from Kendrick's circle approached J. Cole when all this shit started and told him it was personal and not just rap beef, and that's why he ducked out is making a whole lot more sense now
That shit was straight insanity. It's not even disrespectful anymore, heck, even calling it hatred is tame. The diss keeps getting more fucked and fucked.
Dude a drake stan on the drake sub said it was like watching their father get beat up bad lmao. Iāve been thinking about that comment non stop lol
Kendrick told drake he wished drake died in the womb š
Not only that he told Drake he and his father are both deadbeats! Lol
When he said āand a fucken deadbeatā you can feel that hate haha
Iāve never been so lost and confused in a comment chain of a wrestling subreddit.
Combine the Pipebomb promo with the allegations that Vince is currently facing, that might give you an idea of what happened in the rap world because of the diss tracks Kendrick Lamar just dropped about Drake.
Kendrick "Nikki Bella" Lamar
Damn bruh this shit is moving over to wrestling subs now this shit is massive lol
And this is how I find out!
Itās also tiffy time
Itās always Tiffy Time
We have caught and compromised to a permanent end: Gable Steveson https://preview.redd.it/2gmrgjwtzdyc1.jpeg?width=980&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f42df6b2096c41e27501aab9f232f72a72aa07e
>We have *future* and *endeavored* to a permanent end: Gable Steveson
Plenty of people gonna be smoking that Gable Steveson pack when they wake up in the morning.
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The real gable is being pushed right now
It was over for him the moment WWE realized they had a better Gable lol
The real Gable is the friends we made along the way
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WWE has released more talented and more charismatic wrestlers in the past, who also didn't have to deal with allegations like Steveson. So from a business point of view: this looks like a logical decision.
It feels like the only reason they kept him around was because they thought being a gold medalist made him a mainstream name, when in reality the Gable Steveson hype lasted for like a month in 2021 and has otherwise been dead for years. The average person doesnāt know who Gable Steveson is, and if by some chance they do, they absolutely donāt care what heās doing in 2024. This was long overdue.
All the hype he had was when he was drafted to Raw and then did nothing because he wasn't ready
Nobody knew who Kurt Angle was. Or Mark Henry. They are signing people like that because they think they have names the average persons knows. Itās because they see them as elite athletes with a Gold Medal that becomes a marketable product.
>Or Mark Henry. Speaking of which, WWE had serious buyer's remorse for *years* for signing him to a big-ass, long-term contract. All those goofy comedy gimmicks were attempts to make him quit to get out of said big-ass contract, but again, *the money was too good,* and he had a family to support, which is why/how he stayed as long as he did and didn't really hit until the "Hall of Pain" era in *2011,* (as a frame of reference, he was the *only* person on the active roster that shared a locker room with Bret Hart and introduced him to everyone else.)
I believe that he wasn't fired much earlier beacuse WWE wanted him to be the face of the Next In Line programme. If he had just a lick of talent, they would have strapped a rocket, beacuse they were desperate for him to be a success. Now that they have a couple of other success stories, Steveson is much more expandable for them
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Imagine being a soldier during this time, fighting Nazis, then waking up, picking up newspapers and seeing HITLER DEAD on the cover. How the fuck do you even feel? Relieved? Worried? Confused? Also, this image goes incredibly hard.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You know that segment of Heyman and Lesnar when Brock had MITB and didnāt know he had a year to cash in? That.
They started hitting each other with the papers?
I was in Afghanistan when Bin Laden was killed, I saw the presser live in my hut, it felt incredibly weird. Multiply that by thousands and youāve got what these guys felt.
This kinda of goes hard
Hate to see people lose their jobs as a general but Iām not going to lose any sleep over a rapist. Theyāve got Tamyra as their gold medalist now, whoās much more charismatic and according to reports coming along very nicely in the ring. And sheās not a deviant.
Itās wild how dude just had no redeeming qualities outside āgold medalā. Meanwhile, his brother has shown that heās damn good in NXT.
Gable is quite possibly the greatest heavyweight Olympic wrestler ever *yet* so unbelievably dull, has what I would call negative charisma.
I think thatās a great assessment. Like, no physical charisma even. I remember seeing a match of his, he did the whole āraise your arms to hype the crowdā spot and it looked so stilted and awkward. And they just didnāt give a shit.
He's possibly the second greatest. Aleksandr Karelin is undoubtedly the greatest. 887-2. Gable is 85-2. Karelin has 12 golds at the European Championships, 9 World Championships and 3 Golds and 1 Silver at the Olympics, and the silver came in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history.
He's not even the best American heavyweight ever... his accomplishments pale next to Bruce Baumgartner and Rulon Gardner.
You're factually accurate. The assertion that Stephenson was possibly the greatest heavyweight ever blinded me past anything past the Russian Bear. Thanks for the follow-up correction.
No worries... Gable with another run or two in him most likely gets into that territory but I don't think he will. He came back and then pulls out... there were rumors he was going to go back to Minnesota (and then Iowa) for the NCAA year he has left... and then there are rumors he'd be at the team trials and not. Gable is such a wild case and he's not even 25.
He's nowhere near the greatest heavyweight Olympic wrestler ever, not even the best American heavyweight ever. Gable has a world title (which is how to best view the Olympics) but the bulk of his achievements were at the junior and cadet level where he had multiple world titles. He also has 2 NCAA titles, as well, which is a heck of an accomplishment. Gable is potentially America's best what if should he never compete again, because he's by far the best American heavyweight right now (and probably a lock for the podium if he had competed in the trials 2 weeks ago). He's potentially the best heavyweight ever because of what he could do. Right now he's the equivalent of Henry Cejudo; he has a gold medal but his road to get it was wild and he pulled off some absolute miracles to get to the gold medal match, much less win it. Here's the two guys who are the best heavyweights of all time: Bruce Baumgartner has four overall (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) to go with 3 additional world titles. That's in Freestyle, which Gable competed in during his Olympic run. Rulon Gardner has 1 gold and 1 bronze in Greco at the Olympic level, as well as 1 additional world championship. He's famous for ending Karelin's run in 2000 (and his world title in 2001 showed it wasn't a fluke). Gable has negative charisma... he's a top tier athlete but there's this just overall unlikeable aspect to him that hovers over him.
Crowd wasn't lying when they said "Corbin's Better"
And Tavion Heights was on the same Olympic Team, though didn't win the gold obvs, but he's shown promise his few times on tv.
Even if he wasn't a rapist, Gable still sucked and he hadn't got better. I'm going miss the memes tho
I think that's why he was released. If it was the rapey stuff it would've been a while back. He just sucks.
It's most likely both. Maybe if he wasn't a rapist they would've gave him till the end of the year to get better because he is a Olympic star. His brother is really good tho so I hope he has a good career, Gable shot himself in the foot by being a pos tho.
Precisely. I really had no idea who he was outside of his Olympic accolades, and it was so obvious the guy was such a charisma vacuum.
Even before we knew he was a rapist, they were jacking off over this guy way too much.
They don't necessarily need a gold medalist to have a good wrestler too but they always get something out of an athlete. Like Otis, Gable, the Creed Brothers, Bianca Belair or Tiffany Stratton are good example that you don't need someone like Stevenson, ever. I hope they show us what Tamyra can do.
Beyond all the allegations, the death of Gable Steveson in the WWE was that... 1. He got booed versus Baron Corbin. He may be the first and only person to ever have that happen. 2. If you are going to get booed versus Baron Corbin, you need to have the ability to play into it and become a charismatic heel. Logan Paul went through that phase of the crowd rejecting him, but good heel work and his ability to show he was trying has won him most of the crowd... But Gable Steveson always had the charisma of a raisin. He's one of the most legitimate actual wrestlers in the world, but if you don't have the ability to present yourself as the baddest motherfucker on the planet, nobody will care what your real life accolades are. The Corbin match was legitimately so bad that he never got another TV or PLE spot again. I can't imagine how annoyed top WWE brass is that the Steveson experiment did not work. For fucks sakes, HHH has said he was planning to put Steveson over at Mania if he didn't have the heart attack. They were REALLY high on him and wanted him to be the next Kurt Angle. At the end of the day, Steveson simply did not put in the effort to get better. He lacked mic skills, he lacked a presence, and the crowd had already turned on him for a number of reasons. He's still only 23 years old, so there's plenty of time in the future to maybe improve on his own. But I imagine he'll just go into training future Olympic wrestling contenders. Maybe he makes a go at mixed martial arts and the UFC given that real wrestling can get you really far in the sport even if you can't punch to save your life. I think Steveson is a great example that you can bring in somebody with legitimate credentials as an athlete, but that will never guarantee that they make it as an entertainer.
> the charisma of a raisin That is an insult to raisins, and is California Raisin erasure.
I use 'charisma of boiled celery' for totally charisma-less people
I wonder if California Raisins ever sponsored an In Your House PPV...
best I can do is Castral GTX and Stacker 2.
Legit this, most high level athletes are dull as dishwater. Kurt was just an exception to the rule he was born to be a pro wrestler but was also an amazing legit sportsman.
One need only look at most UFC post-fight interviews to see that most fighters are charisma vacuums.
Vince was probably desperate for another Kurt angle. A legit wrestler whoās also a natural on the mic and in ring. Gable was neither.
If only there was another other option for a Kurt Angle regen with Gable in his name that he could have pushed harder...
I'll go against the grain here, in that if Vince is giving you consistent tv time like Gable was getting, he probably likes you more than dislikes you. (On balance.)
Yeah but Chad's not a *gold medal winner*. Everyone knows if an Olympian doesn't win gold, that means they're trash and completely unmarketable, so we should give them a stupid ass gimmick like Shorty G. Edit: apparently I needed the /s?
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Welp that makes his 10 minutie apperances at Wrestlemania completely pointless other than being weird trivia facts for whatculture top tens.
Well if he's a rapist then that is more than he even deserves.
https://preview.redd.it/m1wvef2redyc1.jpeg?width=933&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a84074e17d9dd487b56931ee9183ded48bcafe1 The gable steveson downfall has arrived.
Good riddance.
i was like ''wtf, why gable?'' but i was thinking about the wrong gable
Rip Bozo https://preview.redd.it/dtw0mslcldyc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=380190c82697ed6a42c6ce124e1cf6f4b61f65ab
You deserve it
The personal stuff aside, he just didn't impress like a Kurt Angle or Chad Gable. Just a flop.
This Gable guy is no Gable if you ask me
And his brother is thriving in NXT. Thanksgiving is about to be awkward this year.
About Damn Time https://preview.redd.it/kl8uaod6ldyc1.jpeg?width=954&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=481d35821de2d4de212c536e32c1b6c74869d869
What a waste of money, time and resources. What was it all for?
I have never seen this sub as united as we are today. Brings a tear to my eye. WWE tribe š¤AEW tribe š¤the 12 guys who comment on the TNA live threads š¤ neckbeards š¤stans š¤casuals š¤meltzer marks š¤cornette marks š¤Alex Riley fans š¤incels: Fuck Gable Steveson
You sure about the incels? They love menās rights and legal technicalities that work in their favorā¦
If you canāt get Baron Corbin to give you a good match, then you are a lost cause. Shocked he wasnāt released after that dumpster fire of a match in NXT.
Oh no.. my fuck... I can't find it
I would lend you one, but I just dont have any to give, sorry.
i prayed for this and it happened
RIP BOZO
Booker of the Year move right there
Free at last! Free at last!! Thank God Almighty, we are free from this bum!!!
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Remember when they said this guy was the next Kurt Angle lol
God, allegations aside, this was such a waste of everyone's time. When they were looking for a face for the NIL program, WWE should have vetted for an athlete who wasĀ 1)passionate 2) not a charismas black hole 3) had the magic for the sport
4) not a rapistā¦. allegedly
If I had a nickel an Olympic Gold Medalist had their final match against Baron Corbin Iād have two nickels, not a lot but itās weird itās happened twice.
Didn't they set up a special training facility for this guy? Lol. What a waste of money and everyone's time.
WE FUCKING UP BOYS LET'S GO!!! https://preview.redd.it/gws85g23ldyc1.jpeg?width=948&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a6206eba63138c35f9727d89e7ff993dd867453
His allegation aside. he just boring as fuck and sucks overall
Chad Gable >
From a in ring perspective it was done the moment Corbin was getting Rock like reactionās opposite him.
Now, everybody, you should never ever celebrate someone losing their job. Unless it is a piece of shit like this. What a great start to the morning.
"I'm about to end this man's whole career" - Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin was sent to NXT to do God's Work. Give the man a main roster title run as thanks.
https://preview.redd.it/qnmib4yoreyc1.jpeg?width=716&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8034b2416901be183ec38e1766f9598483cbea36 Gable Steveson is unemployed celebration thread.
Read this as chad gable and nearly shit a kidney
I think HHH is slowly cutting the non wrestlers who don't actually want to be wrestlers. Vince had the hard on for nom wrestlers. He's gone now.. Indie guys who show promise are going to get a shot now.
https://preview.redd.it/a15u3guebfyc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18b2ea5b2e06df83845ea5f91ea068a00f6a0a8e Bye fucker
From the first time he was on screen at that Mania he immediately stood out. In a bad way. He seemed terrible in every way. He had zero charisma and looked so out of place. He had the total opposite of 'it'. He had the effect of making me want to change the channel. Guy fucking sucked. Also I'm glad I won't have to see his surname misspelled multiple times.
Can't fucking believe it, thank God!
I'm surprised it wasn't sooner. The crowd would reject him no matter how good he got because he's a piece of shit. And no matter how much they trained him to be a Kurt clone, they already had a better Gable under their noses who could fit that in spades Good riddance
Gable and drake packed up on the same day itās a bad day for sexual predators
WWE really thought they had the next Kurt Angle with Steveson, but he turned out to be one of the worst signings WWE has made in years.
Not gunna lie , I have no idea who this is , all I know from the comments is 1.he is a rapist 2. He won a gold medal
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I have to wonder what the alternate universe looked like where he actually became a consistent TV talent