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With tomorow's Real American Freestyle 04 set to stream on FOX Nation from Indiana, PWInsider.com sat down with Eric Bishoff for an extended conversation about building the freestyle league, the first major overture at bringing unscripted professional wrestling to a major league level.
While hoping to reach the professional wrestling audience as much as a mainstream sports one, Bischoff noted the core philosophical divide between RAF and professional wrestling is non-negotiable.
“Our stories are not scripted,” Bischoff said. “We’re not laying out a six week story arc. We’re taking the stories that come out of the real competition.”
Bischoff pointed to traditional sports as the blueprint.
“[RAF] is no different than the NFL or Major League Baseball or the NBA,” he said. “It’s the stories behind the scenes that drive interest. “The odds start becoming the premise of a lot of stories. That kind of conversation… really elevates the sport.”
When asked about RAF becoming a potential hub for the type of athletes WWE's Next in Line program covets, Bischoff acknowledged that WWE and TKO have been supportive rather than competitive when it comes to RAF's growth.
“They’ve been very helpful,” he said, noting WWE’s role in producing early materials and acknowledged inbound interest.
“We’ve had a couple WWE wrestlers reach out… who have amateur wrestling backgrounds,” Bischoff said, declining to mention specific names.
If WWE wanted to eventually sign RAF talent, Bischoff said he would welcome it.
“We will celebrate because that’s validation for what we’re doing,” he said.
Shifting to discussion about the production, compared to overseeing professional wrestling broadcasts, Bischoff stated RAF bring a different kind of stress.
The unscripted nature of RAF events remove one kind of pressure and replace it with another.
“With WCW, every second of it was scripted,” he said “With Real American Freestyle, what happens in that match is not scripted.”
The adjustment now is preparing athletes for the spotlight and showing the world the personality these athletes possess.
“They’re used to wrestling in a tournament format… here, the spotlight is on them,” Bischoff said. “Getting them comfortable enough to go out there and let the world know who they are. [It] takes a little bit of coaxing, but we’re getting there."
"If you’re a fan of sports entertainment,” he said, “they’re gonna surprise you.”
Another connection to professional wrestling is Kurt Angle on the RAF broadcast team.
"“I was so excited to have Kurt, because I've known him so long and his passion is wrestling. These guys just can't stop talking about freestyle wrestling and that passion makes it to the air. It makes it into people's homes when they watch, You can feel it.”
Bischoff and others in the RAF management team have had numerous meetings in NYC and elsewhere with potential broadcast partners. PWInsider.com had previously reported ESPN and FOX interest in the league's potential weekly series. While Bischoff declined to mention specific meetings, he did acknowledge the plan was to launch that series sometime in 2026.
“I’m as confident as one can be in the current television environment,” he said about that launch. “Within the next six months. likely within the next three, maybe four.”
While Bischoff enjoys his full circle moment with Real American Freestyle, he took the moment to discuss another recent full circle moment in professional wrestling, John Cena's retirement match.
"It was a real moment to me. I think it summarizes John's feeling at that precise moment when he smiled. I think he was just very satisfied with what he had achieved. When I saw that smile, I thought, here's a guy who really is in touch with himself, and it was a real moment to me. I'm happy for John because John got to go out in a way that not a lot of people do, and he went out healthy. He went out happy and he went out on his own terms, and I'm thrilled for anybody that can achieve that.”
This Saturday, Bischoff continues to seek out and achieve his latest chapter, bringing RAF to the masses and with any luck, pinning down that weekly RAF series soon enough.
For more on this Saturday's RAF04, click here.
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