“We’re going to launch a weekly, two-hour, live, Real American Freestyle series coming your way, first quarter, 2026. So there is so much great stuff going on here — by the way, that’s breaking news. I did an interview with the Boston Globe yesterday and I gave it to them, but that’s not coming out till I think Saturday. So, it’s a scoop as far as we’re concerned. 52 weeks a year, two hours a week, live. Real American freestyle action coming your way…
It’s gonna be so much fun. I can’t wait. I’m already looking past this event (on August 30th). You know, for the most part, the heavy lifting, for me, because I don’t oversee the whole company obviously but, the parts that I do oversee, the heavy lifting for me, it’s not done, but it’s getting close. So now I’ve got some bandwidth for the first time in about three months, and I’m starting to think about, okay, what’s next? I wanna stay ahead of this, so what’s the next big move? And Chad (Bronstein) and I have been talking a lot about it and we both agreed that the next big move is gonna be that weekly series, that live-action series every single week, and that’s something that we can pull off with the existing team we have in place… I’m already living in about July of 2026. In my head, I’m working in July. That’s how much fun this is.”
Bischoff went on to state that they’re hoping by the first quarter of 2026, people will be able to bet on Real American Freestyle.
“Hopefully, by around the first quarter, you’re gonna be able to bet on Real American Freestyle, and that’s where it’s gonna get really exciting, and especially for the existing MMA audience, because no matter who you talk to in the world of MMA, they will tell you that wrestling, freestyle wrestling, call it what you will — wrestling is probably the most important foundation of MMA. So if you’re an MMA fan and you like to bet on MMA, don’t you think knowing a little bit more about wrestling is gonna matter?”
Even with that name I didn't realise this was actual competition, the part about betting just made it click. I'm no longer interested in seeing how badly this flops, I just don't care any more. Good luck to the wrestlers I guess, I'm out.
...Unless it's not competition and they are talking about betting on scripted stuff, in which case I'm back in so damn hard.
Apparently it's supposed to be unscripted Olympic style wrestling, but with pro wrestling style pageantry.
Honestly just seems like a dumb idea regardless, even before you get to Hogan and Bischoff's involvement blurring the lines (and I bet Bischoff turns it into a work as soon as it becomes clear it's not working as a shoot, if it even lasts that long).