Gable Steveson made his WWE SmackDown on FOX debut this week.
Tonight’s SmackDown from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh featured a segment where Steveson was shown arriving backstage with fellow Olympic gold medalist and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle. They were greeted by Braun Strowman, who recognized Steveson from the WWE Performance Center. Strowman told Steveson to hurry and get to SmackDown because he’s needed on the blue brand. They then had some friendly words with Strowman mentioning how Steveson can get “these hands,” and Steveson promising to come see Strowman as soon as he’s called up.
Steveson then spent the rest of the night backstage at Angle’s 54th birthday celebration, with The Street Profits, Madcap Moss and Emma, Shinsuke Nakamura, and WWE Producer Jason Jordan, who presented his “dad” Angle with a homemade birthday card.
Angle later came to the ring for the show-closing birthday celebration segment. He was interrupted by Alpha Academy’s Chad Gable and Otis, who were upset over being left off Angle’s list of invites for the backstage party.
Alpha Academy insulted Angle and ordered him out of the ring, then they began eating his birthday cake. Angle then suggested they drink a lot of milk to go with the cake, which brought out Steveson and a milk truck. Steveson and Angle rode the milk truck to ringside, while a milk man drove, then they got out and started throwing bottles of milk into the ring at Otis and Gable. Angle then brought out a hose and sprayed Alpha Academy and the ring. The segment ended with Angle and Steveson sharing a milk toast in the ring, then celebrating as SmackDown went off the air.
Steveson, brother to WWE NXT Superstar Damon Kemp, signed a WWE contract in the summer of 2021, right around the time of his brief appearance at SummerSlam that year. It was later announced that Steveson was under a Next In Line contract after WWE launched their NIL program. Steveson was drafted to the RAW brand in the 2021 WWE Draft that October, but as of this writing he is not listed as a RAW Superstar on the official WWE website. Steveson then appeared during Night 1 of WrestleMania 38 earlier this year, introduced by WWE Chairwoman & Co-CEO Stephanie McMahon. He returned for Night 2 of WrestleMania 38 to confront Alpha Academy’s Gable, finishing him off with a suplex.
Steveson has been training at the WWE Performance Center, and at one point he was training under former WWE Superstar Ken Anderson. It was revealed back in October that Steveson was treated for Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, and the process delayed his WWE training as it spanned over multiple summer months.
It was reported earlier today that WWE has had recent talks about bringing Steveson into the storylines. There’s no word yet on if tonight’s SmackDown will lead to more upcoming appearances by Steveson.
As seen below, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H took photos with Angle and Steveson at SmackDown. He commented, “Had to bring the milk truck back for this one… Happy birthday, @RealKurtAngle! #SmackDown”
You can see more shots from Steveson’s SmackDown debut below, along with Triple H’s full tweets, and a Steveson video package that WWE released shortly before SmackDown hit the air:
Had to bring the milk truck back for this one…
Happy birthday, @RealKurtAngle! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/zo7XZGRJKk
— Triple H (@TripleH) December 10, 2022
OH IT'S TRUE!@RealKurtAngle is here to celebrate his birthday! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/5phfTwaF55
— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) December 10, 2022
Shhh please…@otiswwe@WWEGable#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/hgNwEyL9Hf
— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) December 10, 2022
What a night on #SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/OxEhIzyRyc
— WWE (@WWE) December 10, 2022
Looks like @GableSteveson has his sights set on Braun Strowman 👀@RealKurtAngle #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/qjm2ZLTcNp
— WWE (@WWE) December 10, 2022
What a reunion ❤️@RealKurtAngle @JasonJordanJJ #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/Nusiu1elLz
— WWE (@WWE) December 10, 2022
#1 Dad ❤️❤️❤️ @RealKurtAngle @JasonJordanJJ #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/A5kc0ubIiQ
— WWE (@WWE) December 10, 2022
🤣🤣🤣
WHAT AN INCREDIBLE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!@RealKurtAngle @GableSteveson #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/NiT8R3ycvP
— WWE (@WWE) December 10, 2022
https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1601412269027606529
"You know how hard it is to get a tie on a guy with no neck?"@WWEGable @otiswwe #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/tvAXEmj907
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) December 10, 2022
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