As Gable Steveson looks forward to his WWE debut, he is taking his time preparing and promoting himself well. He recently won the second consecutive NCAA Heavyweight Championship. In a latest interview, he named the top WWE star as his dream opponent.
Steveson appeared on The MMA Hour, where he talked about his rapport with Brock Lesnar. He shared that Brock was one of the first people to call him after winning the NCAA National Championship.
“He was one of the first. Immediately,” Steveson said. “He said ‘great job’ and was congratulating me on my good interview too. He said I had a really good interview, which I was proud to hear. I’m working on just my talking skills and making sure that I can take things off of me and put it on other people. I would hate to go on an ESPN interview or this type of interview and say that, ‘I’m the best. I’m the greatest American heavyweight to ever wrestle.’ I would rather tell you that I would have another person do that instead of me and say that, ‘I love kids that would be better than me. And anybody else who wants to do what I do, they can do better too.’”
Steveson further talked about his future plans and said he’d possibly like to take the same route as Lesnar when he joined the UFC and MMA. It’s clear that he admires Lesnar to a great extent.
“There is a chance I do step into the MMA ring,” Steveson said. “I like to challenge myself in all aspects and the Brock route is what I plan to take right now, and I think just learning from him and learning his steps is gonna help me succeed to the maximum potential. I think there is that chance to step in the octagon and I think I would be really good with the right training and the right support system around me. So I’m just gonna leave that chapter open and maybe we’ll write it, maybe we won’t.”
Steveson’s admiration for Lesnar is very apparent, and it wasn’t surprising when he named him as his dream opponent.
“A dream matchup that I’ve been wanting for a long time, obviously, Brock Lesnar, you know?” Steveson said. “Brock is Minnesota great. One-time national champ, two-time finalist. He lost to Stephen Neal in, I think, 2000 or something like that. Brock Lesnar is the match I want. And obviously, he probably knows that and he’s getting ready for that too.
“When that time comes, it’s going to be a great time, you know? It’s going to sell bigger than probably him and Roman Reigns. But Brock don’t have two national titles. He don’t have Olympic gold. So my stats right now at his age, if we put him at 21 and me at 21, my stats are maybe just a little better besides him being a physical specimen and being on an NFL team. But, who knows? That time’s gonna come and when that time comes, we gonna welcome him with open arms like everything else.”
As Steveson is signed with WWE, he is expected to debut on the main roster of the red brand instead of following his brother, Bobby, on NXT. The specified date of his debut is still unknown, but it is speculated to be sometime around during WrestleMania weekend.
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