Gable Steveson is headed to WrestleMania as a two-time NCAA champ (UPDATED)

When WWE signed Gable Steveson as the centerpiece of their NIL program, the 21-year-old heavyweight wrestler was already an NCAA champion for the University of Minnesota, and had won a Gold medal at the Olympics in thrilling fashion. On Saturday (Mar. 19), he padded his resume by defeating Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz to claim his second straight NCAA title.

Then he left his boots on the mat.

After the moment, Steveson confirmed to ESPN it signaled his retirement:

“It’s done. I knew what I came to do. I was going to win an Olympic gold, win the national tournament again. It’s just weird. I don’t know how to describe it.”

Seeing as he’s already been drafted to Raw, his next step is pretty clear. The Brock Lesnar protege may have even spoiled a debut date with this since deleted tweet...

WWE’s built to the arrival of a man they hope will be their next Next Big Thing with crowd shots and quick in-ring appearances like the one Steveson did at SummerSlam with fellow Gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock —

— so if he does something at AT&T Stadium on April 2-3, it wouldn’t necessarily kick off his first angle. But now that he’s wrapped up his amateur career, it might.

Excited to see what Gable is able to do in WWE?

UPDATE: Steveson told SI he’ll be at ‘Mania, and he makes it sound like it he’ll be doing more than smiling and waving...

“I plan on going to WrestleMania. That’s the first time WWE fans will see me and what I’m about. I’m going to put my heart out there.”