WWE has announced a new NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) program aimed at recruiting college athletes. This follows the historic NCAA policy that went into effect this summer allowing college athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness.

“Dubbed “Next In Line,” the NIL program aims to enhance the talent development process through collaborative partnerships with college athletes from diverse athletic backgrounds,” reads a WWE press release.

Triple H was also quoted in today’s press release announcing the Next In Line program.

“The WWE NIL program has the potential to be transformational to our business,” said Paul Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Global Talent Strategy and Development. “By creating partnerships with elite athletes at all levels across a wide variety of college sports, we will dramatically expand our pool of talent and create a system that readies NCAA competitors for WWE once their collegiate careers come to a close.” 

Part of the program will include college athletes being able to train at the WWE Performance Center. Athletes will also receive education on things such as brand building, media training, live event promotion and more. Upon completion of the program some athletes will be offered a WWE contract.

This program comes on the heels of WWE signing Olympic Gold medalist, Gable Steveson. He will return to school for his senior year and defend his NCAA championship at the University of Minnesota. WWE also announced they will unveil the first class of athletes in the program soon.

Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson is aiming for the top of the heap already.

Stevenson is signed to a WWE contract and was drafted to the Monday Night Raw brand. Stevenson will be finishing up his collegiate career before starting his WWE journey. While Steveson has yet to truly dip his toes in the WWE waters, he’s already gunning for Raw’s top dog.

Gable Steveson Wants WWE Champion Big E

Steveson appeared on WWE’s After the Bell podcast and made it clear that he has title aspirations in the pro wrestling industry. Big E is already on his hit list.

“I am on Monday Night Raw, so right now, I’d like to take care of Big E because he’s the champion. I’m title seeking, I’ve always been a title seeker. Gold medal, NCAA championship, anything else I’ve accomplished, and now that WWE belt, whether it’s Monday night, Friday night, I love to be that person that people show up to watch. Wherever Gable is, that show ends up being perfect.”

Steveson also mentioned facing the likes of his mentor Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Shelton Benjamin, and Chad Gable. Stylistically, all of those matches could be barn burners if Steveson can take his amateur wrestling background and make it work in the world of sports entertainment.

Steveson took home gold for the United States at the Tokyo Games. He did so with a come-from-behind victory over Geno Petriashvili. He hasn’t been beaten in freestyle wrestling since Aug. 2019 and has a 20-match winning streak.

H/T to Fightful for the transcribed quotes

The WWE debut of Gable Steveson may not be a long wait.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that the plan is for Steveson to become a regular on WWE TV once his collegiate sports career wraps up at the end of March. The company reportedly wants the Olympic gold medalist to be featured prominently at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022.

Gable Stevenson was drafted to WWE’s Raw brand earlier this month. Over the next few months, WWE will be looking to keep Gable Steveson fresh in the minds of WWE fans.

Naturally, there’s been a top of hype surrounding the blue chip prospect. Following Gable Stveson’s Olympic gold medal victory over Geno Petriashvili in freestyle wrestling, speculation began about his future. He helped stir the pot, speaking openly about his options. In addition to professional wrestling, Stevenson also considered going pro with the NFL and also the UFC.

Steveson hasn’t wrestled a match or even cut a promo for WWE, but people are already comparing him to fellow Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle.

Steveson is expected to graduate from college in May 2022. He will defend his NCAA Division I national championship at the University of Minnesota in his final year with the college.

The biggest surprise coming out of night two of WWE Draft on Monday’s episode of Raw was the red brand picking up Gable Steveson to join their roster.

WWE showed a video of the Olympic gold medallist with his parents after his pick was announced. The amateur wrestling star also took on his Twitter to react to the news:

SHOCKER!@GableSteveson has been drafted to #WWERaw in the sixth round of the #WWEDraft. pic.twitter.com/z2pwjPMnza

— WWE (@WWE) October 5, 2021

While Gable Steveson had been talking about a potential WWE career since last year, the 21-year-old was officially signed by the promotion only last month.

The Olympic star himself had revealed after his signing that there was a good chance he would skip an NXT run and be sent to main roster directly. Though very few expected it to happen this soon.

It’s unknown what Steveson’s immediate role on Raw will be but reports suggest that he will go full time in May 2022. So it’s possible that he will be more focused on his pro wrestling training and make sporadic appearances till then.

The night two of WWE Draft brought in some other surprises as well such as both SmackDown women’s champion Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins being drafted to Raw from SmackDown and more.

You can check out all the draft picks made during the show here.

WWE Draft continued on this week’s episode of Raw. The show saw some changes that were expected after last Friday’s SmackDown and a couple of surprises as well.

After the Raw women’s champion Charlotte Flair was drafted to the blue brand, many believed Becky Lynch will be shifted to Raw to balance the star power, and this change was made official with the very first draft pick of the night.

The WWE Draft brought in some unexpected changes for the second night of the event as well, such as the former Universal champion Finn Balor being moved to Raw or Sheamus being picked up by SmackDown.

Though probably the biggest surprise of the night was Raw picking 2020 Olympic gold medallist Gable Steveson to join the red roster in the final round of the draft.

SHOCKER!@GableSteveson has been drafted to #WWERaw in the sixth round of the #WWEDraft. pic.twitter.com/z2pwjPMnza

— WWE (@WWE) October 5, 2021

• WWE Draft Again Shows Brand Loyalty Is Not A Thing

WWE Draft Night 2

A total of 24 picks were made on air during the WWE Draft on this week’s episode of Raw. You can check out the night 2 draft picks below:

Raw Picks:

• SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch
• Bobby Lashley
• Seth Rollins
• United States Champion Damian Priest
• AJ Styles and Omos
• Kevin Owens
• Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins
• Finn Balor
• Karrion Kross
• Alexa Bliss
• Carmella
• Olympic gold medallist Gable Steveson

SmackDown Picks:

• SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos
• Sasha Banks
• Intercontinental Champion King Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs
• Sheamus
• Shayna Baszler
• Xia Li
• The Viking Raiders
• Ricochet
• Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza
• Cesaro
• Ridge Holland
• Sami Zayn

You can check out the Draft picks from night 1 here and the additional picks announced after SmackDown here.

• WWE Announces Additional Draft Picks After Raw

Gable Steveson believes he’ll be able to portray just about any character asked of him.

Steveson is a highly-touted prospect who has been signed to a WWE contract. The Olympic gold medalist will finish his collegiate career before starting with WWE. Steveson is just WWE’s second Olympic gold medalist. The first, of course, was Kurt Angle.

During an appearance on MMAFighting’s The MMA Hour, Steveson told Ariel Helwani that his charisma will shine bright in WWE.

“I don’t know my style yet, but I think I can pull off the American Hero really well, especially being a gold medalist. Kurt [Angle] was the only one – I don’t have a broken freakin’ neck, and I hear it all day on Twitter. ‘You don’t have a broken neck, you’re not the real gold medalist.’ So I heard it all day in all my messages. I’m sorry I didn’t have a broken neck, but I still got a gold medal….there are so many styles I could play, there are so many styles I’m ready to play. I’m open to anything – American Hero, bruiser, heel, bad guy, good guy. I think I have the characteristics and charisma to be everything. I’m just waiting to see who I’m gonna be.”

WWE hit the jackpot with Kurt Angle. Angle not only ended up being an elite worker, but he also had a strong personality and fit the bill of a true sports entertainer. Whether or not Steveson can find similar success remains to be seen.

Gable Steveson also told Helwani that he believes he will ultimately skip NXT and go straight to the main roster. With that said, Steveson wouldn’t be opposed to starting off in developmental if that’s what WWE wants to do.

Paul Heyman believes he is responsible for the success of Gable Steveson.

There are a lot of high hopes for Steveson. The Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling has signed with WWE. He will be finishing his collegiate career before making the jump.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Heyman said he deserves credit for all of Stevenson’s success.

“I am personally responsible for all of Gable Steveson’s right business decisions in his life and his gold medal and his Hodge trophy and his NCAA Division 1 Heavyweight championship.

“I had everything with Gable Steveson winning the Olympic gold medal. I arranged for Gable Steveson to train with Brock Lesnar at the University of Minnesota, which helped Gable Steveson win the NCAA Division 1 Heavyweight championship. Then he used my strategy to win the gold medal in the Olympics.”

As Heyman mentioned, there is history between Steveson and Brock Lesnar. Heyman has played the role of Lesnar’s advocate for years. Steveson and Lesnar have trained together at the University of Minnesota. Stevenson retweeted Paul Heyman taking the credit, so it may be a sign of approval.

Time will tell when Steveson will be seen on WWE TV in a full-time role. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio suggests we could see it happen in May 2022. Steveson told Ariel Helwani that he doesn’t expect to be introduced on the NXT brand.

Gable Steveson believes that he will end up going straight to the main roster in WWE.

Steveson is an Olympic gold medalist. He captured gold for the United States after a come-from-behind victory over Geno Petriashvili in freestyle wrestling.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WWE signed Steveson. The promotion later confirmed ESPN’s own report of the signing.

During an appearance on MMAFighting’s The MMA Hour, Steveson told Ariel Helwani that while he’d be open to an NXT run, he thinks he’ll be put on the main roster right away.

“There’s a very good chance that I go straight to the main roster and not go to NXT. I’m open for anything. With the way things are going, I think I’m going to jump straight to the main roster. I know there’s a lot to learn and I’m ready to soak everything in like a sponge and be ready to go out there and put on a good show for the crowd.”

Meltzer’s new report suggests Steveson could very well start with WWE full-time in May 2022.

Gable Steveson will be finishing up his collegiate career before heading to WWE. He said that the company had no issue with his plans.

“That never came up. I told them that I wanted to go back and finish school. Their number one priority was, ‘you can do that.’ Vince, Nick Khan, and Triple H all said, ‘Go win the National Title. Everything will still be in place for you. Get your degree and we’ll see you after that.’ Part of my deal is I can go on stage during my school time.”

Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson may not have to wait long for his full-time run in WWE.

Steveson had the wrestling and combat sports world buzzing following his dramatic come-from-behind victory in freestyle wrestling at the Tokyo Summer Games over Geno Petriashvili. Following the victory, Steveson teased trying his hand in either sports entertainment or MMA. It became quite clear, however, that the Olympic gold medalist always had WWE in his sights.

Earlier this month, it was reported by Dave Meltzer that Steveson signed with WWE. ESPN followed that up with their own report, which was confirmed by WWE.

During an edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer revealed when Steveson could potentially make his main roster debut (h/t Reddit user Marth5454).

“They are big behind him for a lot of reasons, but it doesn’t mean he’s going to be a success, either. I mean, it’s like he’s going to have the microscope on him and he’s gonna be up there [on the WWE main roster] too soon, for sure. He’s gonna be in matches too soon as far as to be a good worker, because they’re gonna try to capitalize on it although I think he goes full-time in May 2022 and, you know at that point they’re gonna be grooming him to the top spots, and they signed him to a deal that pretty much wants him there.”

Many have said Gable Steveson has the potential to be WWE’s next Kurt Angle if he has the charisma. Steveson himself said he’s the modern-day Kurt Angle but appeared to walk that back in a later social media post.

Do you think Gable Steveson can be a success in WWE or is it far too early to tell?

WWE has reportedly signed Olympic Gold Medalist and NCAA Champion Gable Steveson.

After months of speculation as to where he might land, Steveson has signed with WWE, via Dave Meltzer. Earlier in the day, he tweeted, “Just put pen to paper…”

Gable Steveson recently appeared at SummerSlam along with another Olympic Gold Medalist wrestler, Tamyra Mensah-Stock. Mensah-Stock has said it is her dream to become a WWE Superstar.

Steveson’s younger brother Bobby was also recently announced as being part of the latest class of recruits at the WWE Performance Center.

Gable Steveson: Paul Heyman Guy

Steveson has said that if he goes to WWE, he hopes to be the next “Paul Heyman Guy.”

“If I ever go to WWE, I’d be a ‘Paul Heyman Guy,’ ” said Steveson to Sports Illustrated last month. “Heyman is a legend. We’d be two people doing great things, and that would be a tough team to beat.”

Steveson has also trained with fellow University of Minnesota alumni, Brock Lesnar.

“And I’ve known Brock since I was in high school. He’s been there for me for a long time, making sure I do things the right way and put my best foot forward.”

Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson recently responded to some comments from AEW’s Jake Hager on Twitter. Hager put out a Tweet saying he’d bet $20K that Steveson couldn’t take him down. Steveson eventually responded that he has never heard of Hager.

Jake Hager was recently angling for a fight with Fedor Emelianenko. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett spoke out about this, saying Hager was not good enough to be lobbying for such a fight.

Gable Steveson On WWE Ambitions

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Steveson spoke about his WWE ambitions.

“If I ever go to WWE, I’d be a ‘Paul Heyman Guy,’ ” said Steveson. “Heyman is a legend. We’d be two people doing great things, and that would be a tough team to beat.”

“And I’ve known Brock since I was in high school. He’s been there for me for a long time, making sure I do things the right way and put my best foot forward.”

“So many great organizations and teams have reached out. A scout from the Bills, there is a connection with the Ravens. The Olympic gold medal is helping me see the world, so my next step is going to be a big decision. I’m going to decompress now and think about it.”

Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Gable Steveson has been on the radar of WWE and UFC for quite some time.

The amateur great reportedly wants a move to pro wrestling, and he has confirmed that he will be in attendance at SummerSlam 2021, although as a fan.

Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Gable Steveson said that he is going to the show mainly to see The Head of The Table, Roman Reigns.

Gable Steveson on Roman Reigns

“I’m heading over to Vegas to watch the champ Roman Reigns do his thing. John Cena is great, but he’s still going to have to acknowledge Roman Reigns” Steveson stated.

The Olympian also revealed who he would want to manage him should he ever make his way to the squared circle and WWE.

“If I ever go to WWE, I’d be a ‘Paul Heyman Guy'” Steveson revealed. “Heyman is a legend. We’d be two people doing great things, and that would be a tough team to beat.”

“And I’ve known Brock since I was in high school” Gable Steveson added. “He’s been there for me for a long time, making sure I do things the right way and put my best foot forward.”

Here is the currently confirmed card for the upcoming PPV event:

• WWE Universal Championship Match – Roman Reigns (c) vs John Cena
• Raw Women’s Championship Match – Nikki A.S.H. (c) vs Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair (Triple Threat Match)
• WWE Championship Match – Bobby Lashley (c) vs Goldberg
• Edge vs Seth Rollins
• SmackDown Women’s Championship – Bianca Belair (c) vs Sasha Banks
• SmackDown Tag Team Championships – The Usos (c) vs Dominik & Rey Mysterio
• United States Championship – Sheamus (c) vs Damian Priest

Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson says that if he ever goes to WWE, he wants to be a “Paul Heyman Guy.” The University of Minnesota alumni has a history of training with another of Heyman’s proteges, Brock Lesnar.

Steveson recently spoke to Sports Illustrated about the influence both Heyman and Lesnar have had on his WWE ambitions.

“If I ever go to WWE, I’d be a ‘Paul Heyman Guy,’ ” said Steveson. “Heyman is a legend. We’d be two people doing great things, and that would be a tough team to beat.”

“And I’ve known Brock since I was in high school. He’s been there for me for a long time, making sure I do things the right way and put my best foot forward.”

“WWE has been so great to me,” Steveson continued. “Triple H, Brock, Heyman, Ric Flair and so many others have been so supportive. So have people from UFC, like Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones and Henry Cejudo, who have also sent me congratulations.”

While Steveson could potentially start his WWE career soon, he has several other organizations attempting to recruit him.

“So many great organizations and teams have reached out. A scout from the Bills, there is a connection with the Ravens. The Olympic gold medal is helping me see the world, so my next step is going to be a big decision. I’m going to decompress now and think about it.”

Earlier this year, Gable Steveson Tweeted out that he is going to be the “biggest star that WWE has ever had” after winning the NCAA wrestling title at 285lbs. This morning at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Gable Steveson defeated Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili 9-8 to win the Olympic men’s freestyle 125kg gold medal.

Is Gable Steveson Headed To WWE?

Following his victory in the NCAA Heavyweight division earlier this year, Steveson sent a hand-waving emoji to Vince McMahon.

Steveson has not been shy about his intensions to join WWE after his amateur wrestling career concludes.

Steveson also attended the University of Minnesota and trained with alumni Brock Lesnar.

“My relationship with Brock has been awesome,” Steveson said to Gopher Sports. “It’s outstanding that a guy like that has noticed me and has gone out of his way to be there for me and guide me in the right direction. We all know who Brock is on TV, but behind everything else, he is a nice person and he has done some amazing things for me.”

In the same interview, he would talk about WWE being a life-long dream.

“This is a dream I’ve had since I was a kid. Everybody grew up watching WWE when they were young, I know I watched it. It’s just been a lifelong dream of mine.” 

Steveson’s brother Bobby has already started training at the WWE Performance Center.

WWE prospect Gable Steveson has qualified for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

On Saturday night, Steveson finished 1st at the US Olympic Team Trials, twice defeating the tournament’s top-seed Nick Gwiazdowski en route to qualifying for the Olympics.

The Tokyo Summer Olympics are currently scheduled to begin on July 23rd, 2021 and conclude on August 7th, 2021.

Steveson’s latest accomplishment come-on the heels of him winning the NCAA title last month and then sending a “waving emoji” to Vince McMahon.

Steveson’s brother, Bobby Steveson, has already reported to the WWE Performance Center earlier this year. Both brothers have trained with Brock Lesnar at the University of Minnesota.

Later in March, Steveson Tweeted out that he’s going to be the biggest star WWE’s has ever had.

Steveson spoke to Gopher Sports last year about his relationship with Brock Lesnar.

“My relationship with Brock has been awesome. It’s outstanding that a guy like that has noticed me and has gone out of his way to be there for me and guide me in the right direction. We all know who Brock is on TV, but behind everything else, he is a nice person and he has done some amazing things for me.”

Earlier this month, The University of Minnesota’s Gable Steveson won the NCAA wrestling title at 285lbs and then proceeded to do a giant backflip on the mat. He followed that up by Tweeting a “waving hand emoji” at Vince McMahon.

Steveson Tweeted out yesterday that he plans on being the biggest star WWE has ever had:

Gable’s brother, Bobby Steveson, has already reported to the WWE Performance Center.

The Steveson Brothers and Brock Lesnar

University of Minnesota alumni Brock Lesnar has trained with both Steveson brothers at their school. Clips of Lesnar training with the brothers can be seen below:

Clips of Gable competing recently can be viewed in the Tweets below:

Triple H has also posed for one of his famed pictures with Bobby Steveson.

Gable spoke about his relationship with Brock Lesnar during an interview with Gopher Sports.

“My relationship with Brock has been awesome. It’s outstanding that a guy like that has noticed me and has gone out of his way to be there for me and guide me in the right direction. We all know who Brock is on TV, but behind everything else, he is a nice person and he has done some amazing things for me.”

The University of Minnesota’s Gable Steveson celebrated winning the NCAA wrestling title at 285 lbs by doing a giant flip on the mat. He then took to Twitter to send a message to WWE’s Vince McMahon.

Gable’s brother Bobby Steveson is already training at the WWE Performance Center. University of Minnesota alumni Brock Lesnar has trained with both Steveson brothers as well.

Gable Steveson’s WWE Ambitions

Steveson spoke to Gopher Sports about his relationship with Brock Lesnar.

“My relationship with Brock has been awesome. It’s outstanding that a guy like that has noticed me and has gone out of his way to be there for me and guide me in the right direction. We all know who Brock is on TV, but behind everything else, he is a nice person and he has done some amazing things for me.”

In the same interview, Steveson spoke about his WWE ambitions.

“This is a dream I’ve had since I was a kid. Everybody grew up watching WWE when they were young, I know I watched it. It’s just been a lifelong dream of mine.” 

Steveson also said he hopes to be a “Paul Heyman Guy” during his time with WWE.

“Every great spokesperson needs its next public figure. Some day, I wish that I can be that next public figure for [Heyman].”