Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff team up to launch Real American Freestyle, bring competitive wrestling to mainstream

Pro wrestling greats Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff teamed up with legendary manager Izzy Martinez to motorboat Real American Freestyle successful hopes of bringing the athletics to a mainstream assemblage arsenic its popularity continues to turn successful the United States.

Hogan and Bischoff are longtime friends who helped acceptable the sports amusement satellite connected occurrence erstwhile they created the New World Order successful World Championship Wrestling and overtook the then-World Wrestling Federation successful the ratings warfare for much than 80 weeks. The 2 are bringing their storytelling attack to the halfway of the mat for this one-of-a-kind opportunity.

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Hulk Hogan attends the NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Upfront astatine The Jacob Javits Center connected May 14, 2015, successful New York. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

"The Hulkster" explained to Fox News Digital that arsenic helium and his concern spouse Chad Bronstein began to research the thought of creating a bigger venue for freestyle wrestling, they realized determination was "more nutrient connected the bone" and the broadcast scenery was bare for much unrecorded sports.

"As we started digging around, we recovered the athletes (were) precise interested. We recovered a spouse that truly had power successful that arena of NCAA champions, a golden medalist who has trained astir everybody successful the satellite that is idiosyncratic and we decided to commencement moving guardant with that idea," Hogan said. "And erstwhile Chad and I started to get into truly heavy water, I said, ‘Boy, we request to telephone Eric Bischoff' due to the fact that accumulation and tv worldly and him knowing the amateur wrestling satellite himself, helium conscionable became the cleanable spouse to leap successful determination with us."

Bischoff, though known for his enactment successful sports entertainment, wrestled successful precocious schoolhouse successful freestyle and Greco-Roman disciplines. He earned his achromatic loop successful martial arts arsenic well.

He said erstwhile helium archetypal sat down with Hogan and Bronstein astir the thought for a mainstream freestyle wrestling league, the "light bulbs" began to spell disconnected successful his head.

"We’ve had a batch of occurrence together. We’ve learned a batch together. We’ve had a batch of successes. We’ve had immoderate challenges. We’ve been done it all, and erstwhile you spell done that benignant of warfare concern omniscient with idiosyncratic and you travel retired of it and you’re inactive looking guardant to doing concern with them again, that’s a peculiar relationship."

Bischoff said amateur wrestling is "incredibly popular" successful the U.S. and the women’s broadside of the athletics is increasing faster than the men’s side.

Eric Bischoff volition beryllium a portion of Real American Freestyle. (Handout to Fox News Digital)

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"It’s a wholly underserved sport, meaning there’s nary nonrecreational league that allows these amateurs to germinate similar they would successful immoderate different sports and it’s specified an underserved market, and I cognize having spent a small spot of clip successful amateur wrestling arsenic a kid, these are unsocial athletes," helium said.

"Every jock is committed, they person to beryllium disciplined, but there’s thing astir idiosyncratic sports, particularly, wrestling, it’s conscionable a antithetic benignant of grind and you person to beryllium wired a small otherwise to beryllium palmy astatine it."

Hulk Hogan speaks during the last time of the Republican National Convention connected July 18, 2024, successful Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Bischoff said helium and Hogan program to showcase them successful a mode nary 1 has been capable to bash before.

Hogan and Bischoff utilized nostalgia to get the sports satellite talking days earlier the announcement of Real American Freestyle. They performed an aged NWO vignette and teased a 3rd antheral who would articulation them successful this endeavor. The 3rd antheral was revealed to beryllium Martinez.

Martinez is 1 of the astir accomplished wrestling coaches successful the U.S. He was 27-0 successful the 157-pound part astatine North Idaho College. He coached respective NCAA All-Americans arsenic good arsenic UFC stars Holly Holm, Yair Rodriguez and Jon Jones.

Olympic metallic medalist Kennedy Blades, different pupil of Martinez, is among the wrestlers connected the roster. Real American Freestyle said successful a quality merchandise that Ben Askren, David Carr and Zahid Valencia are acceptable to beryllium included arsenic well.

"I’ve been an jock and a manager successful the athletics of wrestling, and couldn’t beryllium much arrogant of what the Real American Freestyle squad has built," Martinez, the main operating officer, added successful the quality release. "Until now, wrestlers person not had the accidental to question a nonrecreational vocation arsenic determination was not capable backing oregon attraction being paid to it. This league volition supply them with a level to not lone bash that, but physique their skills, marque and legacy"

Real American Freestyle besides has the backing of Left Lane Capital, thing freestyle wrestling leagues person ne'er had before. Real American Beer, Hogan’s beverage brand, is among the sponsors. Cassius was besides named arsenic 1 of the investors successful the league.

The league said wrestling precocious had the highest percent of athletes among large precocious schoolhouse sports for boys’ and girls’ teams, according to a 2024 study.

President Donald Trump got a firsthand look successful March astatine conscionable however large the athletics is erstwhile helium saw the NCAA championships up adjacent and idiosyncratic successful Philadelphia. He witnessed Wyatt Hendrickson propulsion disconnected an unthinkable upset of Gable Steveson successful the last match.

President Donald Trump, Sen. Dave McCormick, Elon Musk and Rep. Jim Jordan ticker the men's NCAA wrestling contention astatine the Wells Fargo Center successful Philadelphia connected March 22, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Hogan told Fox News Digital that the president has a lasting invitation for the opening nighttime connected Aug. 30 successful Cleveland.

"There definite is, brother," Hogan said. "We’re truly hoping helium comes. It conscionable lit maine up erstwhile I saw him hug the American athletes that won. It was conscionable astonishing that helium was into it."

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Hogan and Bischoff some agreed that timing is everything and present is the close clip to entreaty to an underserved audience.

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