BY JIM VARSALLONE
After a delay in the start date, RealProWrestling, the first Olympic-style wrestling league, recently made its national television debut on PAX TV and Fox Sports Net.
PAX coverage airs consecutive Sundays for eight weeks at 4 p.m. EST. Fox Sports Net coverage airs on consecutive Wednesdays at 3 p.m. EST.
Dates and times are subject to change. Please check local listings.
The re-schedule of the launch and a reduction of episodes was because of a $3.5-million fire on Dec. 26 that destroyed the suburban Nashville home and production offices of RealProWrestling founder Toby Willis.
Willis, his wife and children were not injured. The fire consumed approximately 60 percent of the footage from the filming in October 2004.
”The fire was an unfortunate situation, and we are thankful that no one was injured,” Chris Chickering, vice president of RealProWrestling, said in a release.
Founded in 2002, RealProWrestling is based in Ashland City, TN and is the creation of two former Northwestern collegiate wrestling teammates — Toby Willis and Matt Case.
The league consists of eight teams representing areas from throughout the country made up of wrestlers in seven different weight classes ranging from 55 kilograms/125 pounds to 120 kilograms/250 pounds.
Regional teams include the New York Outrage, California Claw, Chicago Groove, Iowa Stalkers, Oklahoma Slam, Minnesota Freeze, Pennsylvania Hammer and the Texas Shooters.
RealProWrestling features today’s top wrestlers and combines Freestyle and Greco-Roman rules and techniques. It provides wrestlers an opportunity to compete beyond collegiate and Olympic competition in a professional league.
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