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The new venture that Hulk Hogan is the face of, Real American Freestyle, announced its first event will take place in Cleveland, Ohio at Wolstein Center on Aug. 30. The arena fan capacity is over 13,000.
Events will feature Olympic and NCAA standout wrestlers in a professional setting with four men’s and four women’s matches at each event. They have announced these matches so far:
- American Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hildebrandt vs. Mexico’s Zeltzin Hernandez Guerra
- American Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades vs. Mexico’s Alejandra Rivera Arriaga
- Real Woods vs. Darrion Caldwell
- Austin Gomez vs. Lance Palmer.
Others who have signed include American Olympic medalists Aaron Brooks, Kyle Snyder, and Kyle Dake and NCAA Heavyweight Champion Wyatt Hendrickson. An expanded roster list is available on the RAF website.
Hogan has said he believes Blades, a 2024 silver medalist, will be the face of the promotion.
Hendrickson made headlines by saluting President Trump after his win over Gable Steveson last month.
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Hogan told the Associated Press last month that his teenage stepson got him familiar with the product and he believed it deserved a bigger platform and there was potential to grow the audience.
Hogan will play the on-air role of commissioner. Former WCW top executive Eric Bischoff will be chief media officer.
Regarding Bischoff being involved, Hogan praised him in an AP article. “Eric jumped in with both feet, and he’s doing a lot to guide this ship right now, brother,” Hogan said. “He’s setting so much stuff up production wise — just moving us forward, light years ahead of where we could have been on our own.”
Hogan has recently appeared on WWE TV. He was booed by fans in Los Angeles, Calif. during Raw’s live debut on Netflix in January. He attributed it to fans’ continuing connection to his heel character from decades ago. The more common explanation was Hogan’s racist comments and his clumsy, bungled attempts to manage the backlash, along with his high-profile support for President Trump.
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