Real American Freestyle
American freestyle wrestling promotion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Real American Freestyle (RAF) is an American freestyle wrestling promotion owned by Real American Wrestling, Inc. and headquartered in Tampa, Florida. It was founded in 2025 by Chad Bronstein, Terri Francis, and Hulk Hogan.
| |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | April 30, 2025 |
| Founders | Chad Bronstein Terri Francis Hulk Hogan |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people |
|
| Parent | Real American Wrestling, Inc. |
| Website | realamericanfreestyle.com |
Competitors include current and former high school wrestlers, collegiate wrestlers, Olympic wrestlers, and mixed martial artists. The promotion provides an opportunity for wrestlers to compete and profit from the sport, as amateur wrestling historically does not permit compensation. A partnership with USA Wrestling allows current NCAA wrestlers to compete and receive compensation through NIL sponsorships.
Fox Nation is the official broadcast home of the promotion's flagship events. A weekly RAF television series is currently in development and being shopped to networks.
History
2024: Planning and development
Terri Francis was general counsel for Anheuser-Busch InBev, where she also served as their vice president of investment and innovation until 2022.[1] Chad Bronstein was president of Carma HoldCo until 2023, where he helped the company partner with Ric Flair to launch his Wooooo! Energy line of energy drinks.[2]
Bronstein and Francis partnered with Hulk Hogan to launch Real American Beer (RAB) on June 13, 2024, a light beer manufactured by City Brewing Company that carried Hogan's likeness.[3][4] The beer's name was a nod to "Real American", Hogan's longtime WWE theme song.[5] WWE is a minority owner of Real American Beer.[6]
Bronstein's son Chase Bronstein attended a Chicago wrestling camp in 2024 that was led by renowned coach Izzy Martinez.[7] Bronstein and Hogan were impressed by Chase's progress after the camp, and they began to develop plans with Martinez for a new sport wrestling venture.[4][7]
2025: Promotion's launch
Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff announced the formation of Real American Freestyle on April 30, 2025.[8] The freestyle wrestling promotion is backed financially by Left Lane Capital and the venture capital fund Cassius, with $3.5 million raised at launch.[4] Chad Bronstein serves as chief executive officer, Bischoff as chief media officer, and Izzy Martinez as chief operating officer.[8][9]
Hogan and Bischoff said their goal with the promotion was to elevate and develop top-level competitive wrestlers into stars.[10] They planned on doing that by emphasizing the backstories of each athlete like The Voice does for its singers.[11] David Sahadi was hired as the promotion's multimedia producer to accomplish this, having previously worked with Bischoff.[12]
MOGL founder Brandon Wimbush was hired as the promotion's chief of staff, wrestler Lance Palmer was hired as the head of talent development, and MatScouts founder Willie Saylor was hired as the vice president of talent development on May 30, 2025.[13][14]
Wyatt Hendrickson was signed to the promotion's roster on June 4, 2025.[15] Hulk Hogan cited mainstream coverage of Hendrickson's upset of Gable Steveson in the 2025 NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championships as a testament to the sport's popularity.[16] Steveson has a clothing line with Takedown Sportswear, the official manufacturer of RAF apparel.[17]
RAF 01 was held in co-founder Chad Bronstein's hometown of Cleveland, Ohio on August 30, 2025.[18] It featured a video tribute to co-founder Hulk Hogan, who had died the month prior, that was produced by WWE.[19] Hogan's son Nick Hogan appeared at the show, where he began serving as the promotion's acting commissioner.[20] Wyatt Hendrickson won his main event match against Mostafa Elders to become the inaugural RAF Heavyweight Champion.[21]
A multi-year partnership with ALT Sports Data was announced on November 4, 2025 that allows betting on RAF matches through major sportsbooks.[22]
2026: International signings and expansion
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Abdulrashid Sadulaev signed an exclusive contract with RAF on January 15, 2026.[23] Sadulaev will receive a reported salary of $100,000 per match, with additional payments of $100,000 for each bout he wins.[24]
RAF: Wrestling’s Greatest Takedowns aired January 29, 2026 on Fox Nation.[25] The special was hosted by Colby Covington, and featured highlights from the promotion’s initial flagship events.[25]
A post-match brawl between Arman Tsarukyan and Georgio Poullas at RAF 06 on February 28, 2026 led the promotion to book an immediate rematch between the two as the main event of RAF 07.[26] Poullas will reportedly be receiving the highest salary ever afforded for a single competitive wrestling bout.[27]
Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson signed a multi-match contract with the promotion on March 25, 2026.[28]
RAF announced it will stage its first international event outside of the United States by the end of 2026.[25]
Weight divisions and current champions
Men
| Division | Weight | Champion | Since | Days | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | 285 lbs. |  Wyatt Hendrickson |
August 30, 2025 | 208 | 1 |
| Light Heavyweight | 215 lbs. | vacant | — | — | — |
| Cruiserweight | 190 lbs. | Kyle Dake |
August 30, 2025 | 208 | 2 |
| Middleweight | 175 lbs. | Dean Hamiti |
December 20, 2025 | 96 | 0 |
| Welterweight | 165 lbs. | David Carr |
October 25, 2025 | 152 | 1 |
| Lightweight | 155 lbs. | Yianni Diakomihalis |
August 30, 2025 | 208 | 0 |
| Featherweight | 145 lbs. | vacant | — | — | — |
| Bantamweight | 135 lbs. | Austin DeSanto |
January 10, 2026 | 75 | 0 |
Women
| Division | Weight | Champion | Since | Days | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middleweight | 150 lbs. | Kennedy Blades |
November 29, 2025 | 117 | 1 |
| Flyweight | 130 lbs. | Helen Maroulis |
October 25, 2025 | 152 | 0 |
| Strawweight | 120 lbs. | Sarah Hildebrandt |
August 30, 2025 | 208 | 0 |
Wrestler salaries and contracts
In contrast to amateur wrestling, which prohibits compensation, RAF allows those who excelled in high school wrestling, collegiate wrestling, and Olympic wrestling to profit from the sport.[10] Salaries are not publicly disclosed, with some contracts providing wrestlers both “show” money to compete, and additional “win” money if they are victorious.[29]
USA Wrestling is a partner organization, allowing active NCAA wrestlers to compete in RAF and receive compensation through NIL sponsorships without it affecting their eligibility.[30][29]
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has a working relationship with RAF that allows their contracted mixed martial artists to wrestle for the promotion.[31]
Rules
RAF utilizes modified United World Wrestling (UWW) and USA Wrestling rules for freestyle wrestling.[32]
An anti-doping policy has been implemented by RAF, following regulations established by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).[33] Testing for substances on WADA’s prohibited list is conducted in and out of competition, with mandatory post-match urine samples.[33] Penalties for violations may include disqualification, suspension, fine, termination, or lifetime ban.[33]
Weigh-ins are performed on the same day as an event.[34] Prior to RAF 05, they had been held the day before an event.[34]
Each RAF event features matches that have three two-minute periods, with a 30-second break between periods.[35]
Matches can end during regulation if a pinfall occurs, or if a technical fall is awarded when one competitor gains a 10-point lead over their opponent.[35] If a match does not end before time expires, the competitor with the highest score at the end of regulation is declared the winner.[35] There is no overtime, and in the event of a tie score at the end of regulation, the competitor who last scored points is declared the victor.[29]
The following point system is administered by the league:
- Exposure (from Standing): Executing a throw while standing that exposes your opponent's back to the mat is 4 or 5 points.
- Exposure (from Ground): Turning your opponent onto their back is 2 points.
- Takedown: Bringing your opponent to the mat and controlling them is 2 points.
- Reversal: Maneuvering from bottom to top position is 1 point.
- Stepout: Forcing your opponent completely out of bounds is 1 point. Beginning with RAF 05, the league adopted UWW’s rule change that prohibits competitors from dropping to their knees defensively to avoid a stepout being called.[36]
- Shot Clock: Failure of a competitor to score in 30 seconds after the official has warned them for being too passive results in 1 point awarded to their opponent.
- Caution: Stoppages caused by a competitor's fleeing, unsportsmanlike conduct, or abuse of injury timeouts results in 1 point awarded to their opponent.
A matside Refereeing Delegate of UWW has the ability to overrule a referee’s scoring.[36] Competitors prior to RAF 05 were able to challenge a referee’s call using video review.[35] If a call was upheld after review, that competitor lost the ability to challenge again for the rest of the match, and their opponent was awarded 1 point.[35]
RAF events
Production team
RAF’s commentary team consists of Cyrus Fees as play-by-play analyst, Chael Sonnen as color analyst and post-match interviewer, Julianna Peña as undercard color commentator, and Kurt Angle as main event color commentator.[37] Ben Askren provides remote analysis.[38]
Jazz Securo serves as ring announcer.[39] Alexis Wilkins performs live renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner” prior to every RAF event.[40] Brantley Gilbert wrote and recorded the promotion's theme song, “Real American”.[41]
Scheduled events
| Event | Date | Venue | Location | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAF 12 | Aug 22, 2026 | Rocket Arena | Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | [42] |
| RAF 09 | May 30, 2026 | Dallas, Texas, U.S. | [28] | |
| RAF 08: Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo | Apr 18, 2026 | Liacouras Center | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | [43] |
| RAF 07: Tsarukyan vs. Poullas 2 | Mar 28, 2026 | Yuengling Center | Tampa, Florida, U.S. | [26] |
Past events
| # | Event | Date | Venue | Location | Attendance | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 006 | RAF 06: Cejudo vs. Faber | Feb 28, 2026 | Mullett Arena | Tempe, Arizona, U.S. | 3,516 | [44] |
| 005 | RAF 05: Covington vs. Rockhold | Jan 10, 2026 | Amerant Bank Arena | Sunrise, Florida, U.S. | 6,000 | [45] |
| 004 | RAF 04: Hendrickson vs. Parris | Dec 20, 2025 | Fishers Event Center | Fishers, Indiana, U.S. | [46] | |
| 003 | RAF 03: Mendes vs. Chandler | Nov 29, 2025 | Wintrust Arena | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | 5,000 | [47] |
| 002 | RAF 02: Dake vs. Makoev | Oct 25, 2025 | Bryce Jordan Center | State College, Pennsylvania, U.S. | 3,000 | [48] |
| 001 | RAF 01: Hendrickson vs. Elders | Aug 30, 2025 | Wolstein Center | Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | 4,500 | [49] |
Media rights
Fox Nation acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to air the promotion's flagship events on July 21, 2025.[50] They later extended their exclusive broadcast rights agreement for airing RAF’s flagship events on January 22, 2026.[25]
A weekly live two-hour RAF television series has been proposed.[51] Up and coming wrestlers on the series would be competing for the chance to perform at an RAF flagship event.[52] Broadcast rights for the series are currently being shopped to various networks.[53]
