RPW has positive first-episode experience, planning changes as the season goes on
John Fuller/TheMat.com
Since October, wrestling fans had been waiting for the debut of Real Pro Wrestling (RPW) on PAX and Fox Sports Net.
RPW is the latest attempt, and possibly the last, to shove the sport of wrestling into the national spotlight, and make heroes out of athletes who normally only get national exposure once every four years.
Originally, the show was scheduled to air on national television one week following the Super Bowl. However, a fire to RPW co-founder Toby Willis’ home in Tennessee left the 14-week show with a lack of footage and got the RPW staff scrambling to produce an eight-episode show.
“Originally, the show was 15 episodes,” RPW co-founder Matt Case stated. “We planned to show all the matches in their entirety. It’s frustrating to not be able to do that.”
But after all of the delays, the first episode finally aired this past weekend on PAX, and Willis and Case were able to gain some valuable feedback from family, friends and the wrestling community.
“It felt like it was surreal. It felt like all the work and all the lack of sleep was worth it. I was watching it with my family. It was real exciting,” Case said of a product that he and Willis have worked so hard to get on national television.
“We’ve gotten a huge range of feedback. We take every piece of feedback very seriously,” Case added. “It’s important to note that we are here to maximize the sport of wrestling. If that’s our ultimate goal, then we know we’re going to have a good product.”
Wrestling fan Kenny Bignotti was impressed with the first episode, which aired the highlights of the quarterfinals as well as the full semifinal bouts at 55 kg/121 lbs.
“It showed some promise. It was apparent to me that a great deal of thought went into the creation of the product. I’d expect no less from former collegiate wrestlers,” Bignotti said, speaking of Case and Willis’ college careers at Northwestern. “The wrestling style is an excellent hybrid that I think all high school, college and club wrestlers can aspire to without taking too much away from skills they’ve developed for the styles they’re more used to wrestling.”
The finals of the weight class aired each week will be shown in the final episode of the season, while also deciding the team champion.
After the first episode, Case said that editing changes have already been made. One such change will be the introduction of the rules and scoring methods into the show, including a graphic with bullet points and possibly even clips to show what a takedown is for clarity. Also, as the season moves on, RPW plans to show more “feature” clips on the athletes and trim the early match highlights some.
Case said that the main objective of the first season of RPW is to engage the wrestling community, and from there, attempt to expand the professional league into a different format.
“Ideally we are looking to have a two and a half hour show with a dual meet between two teams, which would then gather interest from each team’s home city,” Case said.
Ironically, that is one of the same changes that Bignotti hopes to see in the future.
“I think I’d like to see more competitors and a better variety of competitors. That’s bound to happen anyways as the league matures, more teams are added, and more great wrestlers worldwide see it as a legitimate opportunity for them. Then, RPW will be in a better position to exploit long-running rivalries and grudges like Askren/Pendleton for a recent example, and hopefully some international bad blood as well,” Bignotti said.
But as is the case with any television show, every fan has their favorite moment.
For Bignotti, that moment was following the semifinal match between Sammie Henson of the Pennsylvania Hammer and Mike Mena of the Iowa Stalkers.
“(Henson) pounded Mena pretty good and after getting his hand raised, made a gesture like he was swinging a big sledge hammer and breaking rocks. He was showing some team allegiance which seemed cool in such a new league. And he was doing so in a way that no one could say was unsportsmanlike or in poor taste,” Bignotti said.
Case enjoyed the moment where Texas Shooters coach Brandon Slay was kicked out of the arena. And while many fans were not sure why both Slay and official Doug Molin appeared to be laughing, Case was clear on the situation.
“That was mainly because Slay was trying to find an exit out of the floor, and couldn’t find where it was,” Case said.
But RPW plans to take comments from everyone right up until the season ends.
“There are always ways you can do something differently. That is our goal. To keep adjusting and keep adapting to better the product and improve the sport of wrestling,” Case said.
If the first episode is any indication, it would appear that the sport has already been improved.
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