WWE Olympic gold

CHIBA, JAPAN – AUGUST 06: Gold medalist Gable Dan Steveson of Team United States poses with the gold medal during the Men’s Freestyle 125kg medal ceremony on day fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Makuhari Messe Hall on August 06, 2021 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Breaking: Olympic gold medallist signs NIL deal with WWE

WWE has signed Olympic gold medalist and NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion Gable Steveson in the first deal of its kind for the company.

WWE Olympic gold

CHIBA, JAPAN – AUGUST 06: Gold medalist Gable Dan Steveson of Team United States poses with the gold medal during the Men’s Freestyle 125kg medal ceremony on day fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Makuhari Messe Hall on August 06, 2021 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

WWE has signed Olympic gold medalist and NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion Gable Steveson.

In the first deal of its kind for WWE, Steveson will appear on the sports entertainment company’s programming while continuing to compete in collegiate wrestling.

New rules benefit athletes and WWE

Olympic
CHIBA, JAPAN – AUGUST 06: Gable Dan Steveson of Team United States celebrates defeating Geno Petriashvili of Team Georgia during the Men’s Freestyle 125kg Gold Medal Match on day fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Makuhari Messe Hall on August 06, 2021 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

WWE have made use of a change to the NIL rule which aims to keep promising athletes in college by allowing them to sign marketing deals that would previously have seen them lose their amateur status if they took part in advertising, profit from sales of merchandise, or engage in paid promotional appearances, or receive other outside benefits.

Steveson will join the WWE roster but it remains unclear how often he will appear in-ring during the early days of the deal. He will defend his NCAA heavyweight title for the University of Minnesota.

WWE are eager to leverage Steveson’s following, while lining up a future star for a long career in sports entertainment.

WWE Gable Steveson
TOPSHOT – USA’s Gable Dan Steveson jumps celebrating his gold medal victory against Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili in their men’s freestyle 125kg wrestling final match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo on August 6, 2021. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Olympic heroes, its true, its true

Steveson joins a long line of WWE superstars with an Olympic pedigree, such as fellow wrestler Kurt Angle and former powerlifter Mark Henry. More recently Chad Gable (Chas Betts) competed at the games in Greco-Roman wrestling, but failed to medal.

WWE has always had an eye for the crossover and the sports entertainment industry is a popular career avenue for former collegiate athletes.

For Steveson this means he can further his legacy as an amateur athlete, while his material needs are bankrolled by the media titans.

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