Can Gable Steveson Save WWE as Its Next Homegrown Megastar?

Lost amid the raft of debuts in All Elite Wrestling and the impact they had on the industry was WWE's signing of Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler Gable Steveson.

The amateur star made headlines with his performance in the Tokyo Games, where he overcame a three-point deficit with 10 seconds left in the final to capture gold.

During the tournament, and after, Steveson expressed his fandom for WWE, even joining the company as its guest for its SummerSlam pay-per-view amid speculation that he was looking to sign with a major pro wrestling promotion.

And he did just that, agreeing to terms on September 4.

Now that Steveson is under contract to Vince McMahon's wrestling empire, might he be the savior of WWE's future as its next megastar and what should that look like?

Avoid NXT and Leave His Name Alone

The recent rebranding of NXT brought with it an influx of fresh faces, including Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, Gigi Dolan, Jayce Jane, Von Wagner and Bron Breakker. With so many new faces and characters to juggle alongside the already established stars that have been a part of the fabric of NXT for so long, adding someone like Steveson to the mix would be a daunting task for any creative team.

Beyond that, Steveson is a gold medal-winning athlete recognizable beyond the WWE Universe, and the company should absolutely capitalize on that while it can.

Avoiding NXT and bringing Steveson directly to the main roster when he is ready not only helps inject Monday or Friday nights with fresh new talent but also elevates the young athlete's stature among the audience.

Steveson is a big, powerful, technically proficient wrestler. He has legitimacy and credibility on his side. Bring him right into the mix, let him work with the veterans on Raw and SmackDown and put him in the position to exceed early and often, not unlike the company did with Kurt Angle back at the turn of the century.

That is not to suggest Steveson is or ever will be Angle. He has even made it a point to distance himself from comparisons to his fellow gold medalist, writing in a since-deleted tweet (h/t WrestlingInc.com), "I'm not the next Kurt Angle. I'm Gable Steveson." 

Making his in-ring debut on the main roster, be it television or pay-per-view, instantaneously creates equity among fans that working one's way through NXT does not. We have seen countless stars make the jump from the brand to Raw or SmackDown and struggle to stay over or relevant, sometimes through little fault of their own. Why subject Steveson to the struggle of navigating booking and the hesitation that comes with pushing the NXT alumni?

Also, the key to early success is leaving his name alone. As we saw with Bronson Rechsteiner, son of the legendary Rick Steiner, changing the names of incoming talent rarely works. Does anyone envision Greg Hamilton announcing, "and the NEW WWE champion...Bron Breakker"?

Probably not, because that name is ridiculous—as are most dreamt up by those tasked with doing so.

If WWE allows Gable Steveson to be himself, keep his name and let him make an immediate impact in WWE when he is trained and ready to do so, it will put him on the fast track to success that an elongated run in NXT would not.

Follow The Angle Precedent

Steveson may not be the next Angle, as he insists, but that doesn't mean WWE can't put him on a similar path to early success.

Assuming he picks up the mat game and can deliver even a fraction of what Angle did early in his career, WWE should absolutely debut Steveson to great fanfare, regardless of whether he is a heel or babyface, and let him mix it up with the more talented wrestlers on the roster.

Let him fight Ricochet and Mustafa Ali. Let him take down Cedric Alexander, Mace and T-Bar. Allow him to pick up wins rather than falling into the pattern of repetition, moving through the undercard before getting himself a shot at the United States or Intercontinental title. 

Allow him the opportunity to work his way up the roster, competing with top stars like Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Seth Rollins or even Edge as he learns the nuances of a business he has loved forever but will be relatively new to. Give him the sort of on-the-job learning that helped expedite Angle's journey to excellence.

Too often, WWE wants to take its time molding and crafting talent in its vision, to the point that the men or women in question never really get over because they look, sound and perform the same way that everyone else on the roster does.

Skip that with Steveson. Have enough faith in him as a performer and athlete to go to the ring and find himself while working with the top stars. It worked for Angle, who not only developed his in-ring skills while working with everyone from The Godfather to The Rock, but also found his character during that time.

The precedent is there. Let Steveson follow it to success. Will it necessarily work? No. There are no guarantees in an industry that changes so frequently in such a short span of time, but it damn sure won't hurt.

That Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting WWE is already looking to develop a passing of the torch scenario between Brock Lesnar and Steveson indicates the company may already be looking to fast-track the gold medalist for success.

We have watched for years as talent has come out of NXT, ready to make it big on the main roster, only to fail to get over and fade into obscurity. For every member of The Shield, there is a Mojo Rawley or No Way Jose, an Andrade or Aleister Black, who were toyed with creatively and never recovered.

Let Steveson grow, evolve and find himself under the brightest lights and WWE will have a star it can ride through the next decade—at a time when the company needs some sort of optimism in the face of AEW's undeniable momentum.