Gable Steveson was always one of the brightest rising stars in American wrestling. He won three age-group World titles and contended for a freestyle World team in 2019 at just 19 years old. However, he was still taking lumps, losing matches to domestic foes like Nick Gwiazdowski and getting shut out by foreign threats like Khasanboy Rakhimov.
His transcendence of the entire field began in December, 2020. At the RTC Cup event, Steveson faced two-time World medalist Nick Gwiazdowski yet again, but this time he handled him with ease. However, another age group World champion in Mason Parris defeated Gwiazdowski as well, raising questions about Gwiazdowski’s form and whether or not Parris could challenge Steveson this time around.