Olympic Gold medalist expected to be next Kurt Angle gets booed out of the building in his debut match against Baron Corbin 

Baron Corbin fought Olympic medalist Gable Steveson at NXT: Great American Bash to a surprising crowd reaction.

Olympic Gold medalist expected to be next Kurt Angle gets booed out of the building in his debut match against Baron Corbin 

Gable Steveson, Baron Corbin, and Kurt Angle (via Twitter)

WWE fans are often known to support the heels during a match and turn violently on the babyface. This can damage the match, hampering the team as a whole. Something similar happened as Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson made his in-ring debut against Baron Corbin at NXT: The Great American Bash. The crowd booed Gable throughout the match, which raised many eyebrows backstage.

Gable Steveson took on the former United States Champion in his first match after a brief feud on NXT. The match was announced a few weeks ago. However, fans were confused about Steveson’s questionable debut after so much hype in the past. Surprisingly, the fans turned on the 23-year-old and started cheering for Corbin.

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Fans were constantly chanting various phrases during the match, including “Let’s Go Corbin” and “You’re Not Angle”, implying that Gable Steveson is not Kurt Angle. The two share multiple similarities from their time before joining WWE. Therefore, fans are comparing the two gold medalists and cannot help but give the edge to Kurt Angle.

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Due to the fans taking over, Steveson was distracted throughout the match. Despite Corbin trying to get heel heat, fans cheered for him and booed every time Steveson tried to hit him. The match ended with a double count-out, therefore making fans question the result, as it did not help anyone involved.

Related: Olympic Gold medalist Gable Steveson will make his much awaited debut against former US Champion  this week

Gable Steveson’s previous appearances on WWE programming

Gable Steveson
Gable Steveson (via Twitter)

The 23-year-old won his Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He would say that working for WWE has been his childhood dream and that he would love to pursue it. He made his first appearance in WWE during the 2021 SummerSlam when he was honored by the crowd for his recent Olympics performance. It was then announced in September that Gable Stevenson had signed a contract with WWE.

Steveson was expected to start training soon, and immediately fans started comparing him to Kurt Angle, who had a similar history before joining WWE in 1999. Gable Steveson was only the second gold medalist to sign with WWE after Angle. In an interview in 2022, Ken Anderson from WWE PC revealed that he is working with Steveson, at WWE’s performance center.

He made another sporadic appearance at WrestleMania 38, when he delivered a suplex to Chad Gable. In June 2023, the Olympic Gold medalist moved to NXT and became a regular on the show. Therefore, fans will have to wait and watch what WWE plans for the 23-year-old after the interesting reaction he received in his debut match against Baron Corbin.

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