It was great to see! I’m glad Hendrickson beat him. It is good for the sport to have parity and balance. While I don’t blame Steveson for lacing his shoes back up because we all have that itch if we leave something we love, but his ego and arrogance was something left to be desired.
He could have been a multiple Olympic gold medalist, world champ, you name it. Left his shoes on the mat because he had nothing left to prove in his eyes and saw dollar signs instead. No shame in that. Admittedly, I know nothing about his WWE stint, nor his Buffalo Bills stunt. Anybody could have seen that being a disaster. Steveson is an incredible athlete, but he’s not the freak of nature Brock Lesnar is, and Brock was laughed out of the Vikings camp.
So, instead of coming back to wrestle senior level freestyle on the world stage, he re-enrolls at Minnesota as a 24 year old for one last go at collegiate stardom arrogantly thinking he would breeze through for another championship. His interviews and body language were trash all year, especially the finals match and it was ironic and satisfying seeing someone so humble beat him.
Listening to Daniel Cormier talk about how the MMA world will be begging for Steveson to join was interesting. Maybe he leaves his shoes on the mat again and does well in MMA. Who knows. Selfishly, I’d like to see him give it another go in freestyle. In any case, so long Gable, best of luck on your next adventure, whatever that may be. [/rant]