Talk about a potentially perfect match. One of the greatest wrestling showmen and champions of all time joining the nation’s preeminent wrestling champions of the past 50 years.
Gable Steveson teased as much on Sunday night, tweeting out an emoji that is synonymous with Iowa athletics followed by a question mark. Then, he doubled down on Monday night with a picture at Iowa.
There’s just one catch. Steveson is still wearing his WWE shirt with Minnesota Gopher shorts on in the picture he shared from Iowa City.
Oh, and there’s the whole tweeting out teases for a potential return to the University of Minnesota, too. It’s equal parts mixed signals and marketing genius from Steveson.
The two-time NCAA heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist created quite the stir when he told FloWrestling that he was planning to use his final year of college eligibility back in mid June.
Then, he ratcheted up the excitement recently as he exited the WWE Performance Center with Eddy Thorpe.
“I sent a few guys flying, but about the future of Gable Steveson? A national title? The Olympics? There’s so much to think about, but I love being here, too. I don’t know. Man, there’s just a lot to think about,” Steveson said.
"There's just a lot to think about."@GableSteveson has some decisions to make regarding his future…#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/BzKmMmM4H7
— WWE (@WWE) July 12, 2023
After his series of tweets to follow, it’s full-on hopeful pandemonium among the Hawkeye faithful now. Really, it would be the perfect collegiate finish for Steveson, right?
After all, he picked up his namesake from legendary Iowa head wrestling coach Dan Gable. Why not finish his college career off with a program that’s accustomed to winning national championships just like he is?
Gable Steveson wins his third individual NCAA championship and pushes the Hawkeyes past Penn State for Iowa’s 25th all-time team national championship. Sounds like the perfect script to us.
At any rate, there’s no denying that Steveson has all of Iowa and the college wrestling world’s attention right now. Take a look at how all of this has unfolded online and the social media stir that has followed.