Optimism For Gable Steveson, Pat McAfee Back in 2023

At one point, things didn’t look so good for him, but now there could be renewed optimism for Gable Steveson. And, we will see Pat McAfee back in WWE in 2023.

Optimism For Gable Steveson

It wasn’t that long ago that we were hearing WWE had no plans for him, but now perhaps we can have some optimism for Gable Steveson.

Per ESPN, the Olympic champion was suffering from a rare hear condition that was impacting his health. It was something he was dealing with even during the Tokyo games.

After consulting with numerous doctors, including WWE’s team, Steveson had a procedure to correct it, and is now 100% healthy.

The biggest news in that is not even that he’s fully healthy-and that is big.

It is that Steveson is training full time at the WWE Performance Center.

Remember, WWE signed him to an NIL deal while he was still a wrestling star at the University of Minnesota. At the time, there was a training facility set up for Steveson close to campus, so he could still wrestle collegiately while preparing for his WWE run.

Now…he’s in Florida, working with the Performance Center staff.

Who else is in Florida? His brother, NXT Superstar Damon Kemp.

Considering that just a few months ago, things looked bleak for Steveson, perhaps we can have some renewed optimism.

He will now be getting a more typical WWE crash course, and has his brother nearby to lean on.

And, while he came in with much fanfare on the main roster (he’s already been drafted to RAW), perhaps WWE would be wise to give him some seasoning in NXT first.

Pat McAfee Back in 2023

Earlier this week, WWE shuffled the announce teams. One name not mentioned isn’t gone…Pat McAfee will be back in 2023.

It was mentioned when McAfee stepped away to do College Game Day, that it was not goodbye, just “see you soon”.

The presumption was he’d return once the college football season wraps. 

Now, Wrestling Observer seems to be confirming as much. Specifically, we can expect Pat McAfee back on WWE television in January.

This gets a bit interesting considering the announce team changes this week. Fridays used to be McAfee and Cole, and they were gold.

With McAfee gone, Graves has been doing double duty, and doing fine. But now, Wade Barrett has earned himself a promotion.

It remains to be seen if McAfee will slide in and make the duo a trio, or if McAfee would bump Cole to the back.

I assume Cole, if only because it had been said once or twice that he’d like to do less on air, and handle his backstage duties.

Of course, a lot can change between now and then, and we shall see what that means for the announce teams.