Later this summer, WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan and Eric Biscoff will host the first event of their Real American Freestyle Wrestling League. The league itself will showcase unscripted competition while being complemented with storytelling from an expected roster of over 40 athletes. According to Hogan, the Commissioner of RAFWL, one of his objectives is to epically elevate these athletes.
"Somewhere along the line, I don't want to create like superstars. I want mega stars out of these guys because these guys are the real deal," Hogan told "The Ariel Helwani Show." "When I say it's pro-pro wrestling, it really is. I think I have a connection with these guys and I can help them, not with the amateur wrestling stuff, but with everything else that goes along with that. Organically, nobody's going to be a bad cop or Doink The Clown or something like that. These guys are going to organically grow into these mega stars and they're going to start feeling their oats. I really think that I can have a lot to do with helping them like that."
Admittedly, Hogan finds this project a little "strange" as he does not have an amateur wrestling background. With Bischoff's vision as the Chief Media Officer, though, he believes Real American Freestyle can be a success. So far, the league has brought aboard three athletes former Olympian Kennedy Blades, former UFC fighter Ben Askren, and former national champion Zahid Valencia. Hogan considers Blades as the future face of the women's division.
"We went to Ohio and Wisconsin, we met with all the coaches and the teams, I was worried that it would just be flat," Hogan said. "But these kids have been watching TV, they've been watching wrestling, watching UFC, watching Conor McGregor. All these kids that I didn't know what to expect, they all got that swagger."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Ariel Helwani Show" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
